Harry Potter and the Illusion of Fate
by Priestess of Groove
Summary: ABANDONED / When Harry dies, he is given the choice to travel back to his first year to set things right. He soon comes to realize this is not the world he grew up in. Companions in the form of animals exist to augment a wizard's power. Will Harry manage to stop Voldemort by the end of 4th Year? Parallel Universe
1. Chapter 1

**Trigger Warning:** My detail really isn't much more graphic than Rowlings, but I figured it's better to be safe. There will be disturbing and violent imagery, especially in this first chapter.

 **Harry Potter is copyright JK Rowling.** **Since this covers some of the Battle of Hogwarts, some of her writing did make it into this, particularly dialogue. It's mostly the parts that are in Italics.**

 **Full Summary:** After the battle of Hogwarts goes tragically wrong, Harry Potter does not feel like he has anything left to live for. After Voldemort kills him, Dumbledore offers him a third choice. Go back to his 1st year and shape things more favorably so that fewer people might die. Harry accepts, but soon discovers that the goal isn't as easy as it seems. He hadn't anticipated almost everything being irrevocably different.

 **Pairings:** Harry/Ginny is the main one. I'm honestly not sure about any others, but I'll update this as I write more of the story.

 **Chapter 1**

 _Crack!_

Harry barely managed to duck the spell that gouged out another chunk of Hogwarts. He turned to the source and nailed the Death Eater with a stunning spell without even thinking about it. His brain was scattered and he couldn't seem to focus on a single moment with all the chaos raining down on him. Lavender falling, Seamus catching a Death Eater in the knee with a Reductor curse. He could see vicious Tentacula wrapping their thorny vines around enemies as Professor Sprout threw her pots from the balcony above.

"Harry!"

He turned to Hermione who called for him, her wand raised ready to curse anyone the instant they turned their attention to them. She looked almost as lost as him and the grief was still plain on her face. "Where are we going?"

He blinked and tried to focus his efforts, but all he seemed to remember was the explosion, voices going far, and then getting up to find Fred, lying there, his eyes unseeing. At that instant he felt for Ron and finally found him slumped over unnaturally, he squeezed his shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. He had no words.

 _What were we doing?_ Slowly it was all coming back to him. The Fiendfyre, rescuing Malfoy, and discovering that the Horcrux was melted by the cursed fire. The Horcrux. They got the last one, now the only one left was Nagini, the snake. And she could only be next to Voldemort! He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift. He could see rotting wood, peeling paint from the walls, furniture that was broken and chewed, and the planks rotting out of a door.

" _My Lord, please...my son. I wish to find him,"_ a croaking voice said from out of vision. Voldemort only briefly acknowledged Lucius Malfoy, but Harry was taken aback at his appearance. It was not all that long ago that Lucius had been regal and groomed in refined robes. Now, though, he appeared haggard and downtrodden; his clothes hung loosely on his frame and his hair was scraggly and he desperately needed a shave and what looked like a good night's rest.

Voldemort had once again turned to examine the Elder Wand. Something seemed to be troubling him, but Harry didn't bother to wait. "The Shrieking Shack," he shouted to them and began sprinting through the hall.

Harry thought he knew what fear was when he faced Voldemort at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, but that was nothing compared to this. His breath seemed to burn in his lungs, the shouts and screams of those attacking and dying filled his ears with an unending cacophony. Hogwarts, the only home he'd ever known, was being rent asunder. Paintings were aflame, the ceramic tile was slick with blood, and entire towers had fallen in the barrage. Friends - people who were virtually family at this point - could be seen battling for their lives and losing them. It seemed like every person he recognized, alive and dead, caused a lump in his throat to grow larger as he attempted to swallow his grief at the way they were suffering. His heart went out to them all.

He tried to put it all to the back of his mind and stay focused on what he had to do, but they slipped and fell over countless piles of rubble. They even had to stop once as McGonagall led a herd of desks past them. It was worse outside the castle. Harry felt his heart drop as they ran almost straight into the leg of a giant. It caught side of them, growling and grumbling as they wielded primitive clubs the _size_ of Hagrid.

"Split up! He can't get all of us," Harry cried to them and he darted through the space between the giant's legs. He glanced back to see both Hermione and Ron dive in opposite directions of each other and it seemed the giant missed Ron by the breadth of a hair. Hermione screamed and scrambled her way around the giant to him. They turned to wait for Ron, but the giant had chosen him as its target.

"Go! Get to Voldemort, Harry!" Ron shot a curse up into the face of the giant and then took off in the opposite direction of them.

"Ron," Hermione called out to him, her cry half a scream and a sob.

"Let's go, Hermione. We need to get going," He mumbled to her and weakly grabbed at her jacket to pull her along.

Harry was looking for a set of stairs down by the dock when he felt a familiar icy chill settle in his chest, and he whipped around to see hundreds of Dementors materializing out of the Forbidden Forest. If he could hear the familiar screams of his mother, they were drowned out by the very real cries of terror around him. He raised his wand, desperately casting in his mind for something happy, but the small bits of happiness he'd encountered this year had been fleeting and overshadowed by the ever present shadow of loss. The first memory of his flight on a broom seemed petty and winning the Quidditch cup in third year felt almost trivial.

" _Expecto patronum,_ " Hermione cried, but her voice was weak and shivery.

"Expecto...expecto patro-" Harry tried to shake his head to clear it of the depressing fog that descended on it.

"Come on, Harry! You can do it!" A silvery glow in the shape of a fox, a hare, and a boar swept past him and the Dementors scattered like leaves on the wind. The fog in his mind cleared at the same time, he felt a hearty slap on the back as Seamus stepped up beside him. "We're still here and we're still fighting. You're clear to go where you're needed."

"Th-thanks, Seamus," he replied, and shivered as the last remnants of biting cold left his body. He collected himself and pelted across the grass over towards the Whomping Willow. He waved his wand and a stick nearly rocketed into the knot that caused the tree to freeze.

"What about Ron?" Hermione asked as they slipped underneath tree, her voice thick with emotion.

"We have to get the snake before Voldemort figures out we've destroyed the last of his Horcruxes. I don't want to leave him either. He'll help out the others at the castle."

"Right," she said, but her voice was a whisper.

They had to stop talking as they rushed through the tunnel. Now that they had left the battle, the tunnel seemed otherworldly and eerily quiet. For a moment, Harry felt like he was betraying his friends by leaving them to the battle while he pursued his own agenda. _We can't win this until Voldemort is gone, and he'll only be able to be gone when we've destroyed the last of his Horcruxes,_ he told himself. _I hope they'll understand_.

Once they felt the ground tilt up, they slowed down and carefully crawled their way up the slope. Harry winced when he felt his head bump up against the trapdoor, afraid that perhaps Voldemort may have heard but there was no sudden discharge of a wand to blow their hiding place to smithereens. Carefully, he tested the trapdoor again and was dismayed that something seemed to be resting on it. Slowly, he lifted the lid enough to see a crack, At first he couldn't see anything, but then there was a padding of feet in a direction that Harry couldn't see and then the confident voice of Severus Snape spoke up, "You sent for me my Lord."

As much as it pained him, Harry closed his eyes to more closely eavesdrop on the conversation and once again fell into Voldemort's mind. He could feel Voldemort's rage, which was always present, begin to simmer in a slow boil. For all of Severus Snape's greasiness, Harry had to give credit that even in the presence of Lord Voldemort he remained aloof and untouched, confident in his position as Voldemort's most powerful ally.

"Severus, this wand does not seem to work for me."

"You have performed extraordinary magic with that wand, sir."

"No, I have performed my usual magic. I _am_ extraordinary, but this wand has not unlocked its powers for me. It feels no different from my Yew and Phoenix."

"I don't understand my Lord. _The Elder Wand answers to you and you alone."_

"I don't think it does. You're a clever man, Severus. I regret having to do this to you, my most faithful follower."

The alarm was building on Severus' face, but he worked to control it. "Allow me to bring you Potter, my Lord. You can test the wand on him and prove once and for all that it is yours."

"I need not have you look for him. He will come to me in time. And I must be ready. I am sorry to do this to you," Voldemort replied, sounding not very sorry at all and then he slashed towards Snape with the wand.

Snape flinched, but did not reach for his own wand and seemed puzzled initially at the wand movement. Then Nagini's bubble floated to Snape and engulfed him.

" _Nagini, kill!"_ Voldemort hissed.

It took all of Harry's effort not to cry out in alarm and he deliberately opened his eyes to bring himself out of Voldemort's mind, but the sounds were almost worse. There was a horrific thumping and Snape cried out in pain under the assault.

" _Come, Nagini. We have much work to do,"_ Voldemort's voice hissed out in more parseltongue and then with a 'pop' he was gone, leaving Snape to his death.

Harry shoved the trap door open at the crate that was on top of it went crashing to the floor and he rushed over to Snape's body. As much as he loathed Snape for most of his schooling, he wouldn't wish such a brutal death on anyway. He was surprised however, when Snape noticed him and seemed to sigh in what looked like relief. Harry knelt by him, pressing the hand to the snake bite, even as he knew it was pointless. He was surprised again, when he noticed a strange silvery blue substance began to leak from Snape's pores.

"Take it. Take it," Snape rasped, weakly gesturing to the memories he was generating.

"Hermione, a vial! A container of some kind," Harry ordered and it seemed like in no time at all, she put a stoppered vial into his hand. He did his best to catch every bit of the gooey substance and his mind was immediately fixated on what it is that Snape had to tell him. He glanced back up at Snape when the man feebly grabbed his collar and for a moment they just stared. Harry was curious as to what it was that Snape seemed to be looking for when he whispered, "You do have your mother's eyes." And then just like that, the light faded from his eyes and the breath left his body.

Harry hesitated a moment before stepping away. It seemed wrong to just leave him there, but they had _still_ not killed the snake and the war was waging without them. They had to find Voldemort again. _When this is over, I will come back to see that you're properly buried,_ Harry vowed before turning to leave.

He was stopped short in his tracks when a hissing voice seemed to sound from the very walls and he grimaced, trying to shut out the pain that was enveloping his mind.

" _You have fought valiantly! Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. You have sustained heavy losses. If you do not retreat, you will die and every bit of magical blood lost is a waste. Let it not be said that Lord Voldemort was not merciful. I command my forces to retreat. You have one hour to dispose of your dead with dignity and treat your injured._

" _Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you."_ He had his eyes closed, but he felt Herminoe wrap her hand in his and squeeze it. _"You have permitted your friends to die for you. I now give you this opportunity to redeem their sacrifices; come to me at the end of the hour and I will spare everyone else. If at the end of the hour you have not presented yourself, the battle shall recommence. I will enter it myself to find you. And every man, woman, and child shall die for concealing you from me." Finally, the voice faded away and all was quiet._

"Don't listen to him. We can do this. We've almost got him," Hermione said to him, continuing to squeeze his hand.

"Right. Come on, we should find Ron and tell him what happened," he replied in a voice that was hardly better than a croak.

Hermione followed him forlornly. They had already seen too much death for their age and most of it just that night. They trekked their way back to the castle at a brisk walk, exhaustion weighing heavily for everything they had done. Did they only just break out of Gringotts on the dragon just yesterday morning? It already felt like a lifetime ago. He was so consumed in his thoughts that he almost forgot to remove the branch he had wedged into the knot.

He and Hermione stepped into the courtyard and stopped. An eerie gloom had befallen the castle and the lack of battling made it look like the castle had simply been worn away by the centuries, ready to collapse in on itself. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach and he cautiously and hesitantly made his way toward the Great Hall, uncertain he actually wanted to step in there.

As dreaded, the hall was lined with bodies. He was sorry to say that he didn't recognize many of them, but he felt his heart catch in his throat when he finally did recognize a few. Remus Lupin and Tonks were lain next to one another, appearing to be asleep. A little ways down rested a particularly tiny body that was too small even for a student, and he couldn't control the gasp at seeing Professor Flitwick among the dead. _But...how?_

Hermione gasped and couldn't contain her sobs as she saw the same thing. Then she said, "Oh no" and gripped his arm tightly.

Near the end were a group of redheads, the Weasley's, but he was terrified to see that there weren't nearly as many as there should have been, even without Fred. He felt himself begin to shake and he tried to control it as he stepped closer to them. Hermione was in lockstep with him and was cutting the circulation from his hand, as she gripped him tighter and tighter.

Mrs. Weasley was crouched and wailing uncontrollably as Bill, Percy, and Charlie stood awkwardly around her. George was still holding his twin as though he expected him to open his eyes and say, "God you good, didn't I?"

Harry thought he might vomit when he saw the rest of them. Mr. Weasley, Ginny, and Ron, all were laid out next to Fred. There was a ghastly bloody stain across Mr. Weasley's chest, Ron's head was bloodied, but Ginny looked untouched and vulnerable. Harry practically fell to his knees and picked up her hand, suddenly disgusted that his ashen and bloodied hand was cradling her unblemished skin as though it might taint her and ruin the illusion.

"Ginny. Ginny, please," he managed in barely above a whisper. Tears began to cloud his eyes and he wanted nothing more than to howl in grief and rage. Someone's hand patted him awkwardly on the back, but he almost cringed from it. It's _his_ fault that Ginny was now dead! He made her leave the Room of Requirement so that he could get to the final Horcrux, but she had gladly left and run off to join the effort.

 _None_ of the Weasley's should've been there. If he'd been a little smarter, a little quicker, he might have been able collect the Horcruxes before it got to this point. Ron! Why had he left Ron to deal with the giant alone? If he had been a better friend, he never would've left him. How could have done that?! They needed to get to Voldemort, but he'd gotten away with his bloody snake anyway!

"It wasn't your fault, Harry," a voice said. He thought it might have been Bill's, but it seemed drowned out by the blood roaring in his ears. Tears had dripped onto his glasses and the world wobbled in the water.

"I have to end this. I will finish this," he gritted out between his teeth and with a great effort wrenched himself away from the family, trying to hold his grief. He felt so guilty and ashamed that he felt all his presence could do was mar the family's grieving.

He allowed his feet to wander of their own accord and was almost surprised to find himself standing in front of the Gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. It didn't even ask for a password, but moved aside for him to ascend the escalator-like stair case. It seemed strange that after all the damage Hogwarts had suffered that something as seemingly mundane as the stairs moving would remain intact. He was so consumed by his emotions that he barely noticed when he went to the cabinet with the pensieve and the doors flew open without him even waving his wand. He moved with machine-like automation, placing the bowl gently on the desk, and then reaching into his moleskin pouch for the vial of memories. He poured them in and watched them swirl, almost a perfect reflections of his emotions if not quite as turbulent. He tapped the surface and the mist disappeared and formed into a scene that he didn't hesitate to dive into.

Even though he was standing right there, he felt oddly detached from Snape's memories, which were primarily of his mother and their relationship. To some extent, he felt his heart go out to him. He knew now, what it was like to love someone and lose them. As he thought about it, he and Snape weren't too far from each other. Both had loved red-headed women with a temper, and a no-nonsense attitude, whose lives were cut damnably short by the same man, Lord Voldemort.

The conversation between Snape and Dumbledore barely registered at its conclusion. He reappeared in the room and blinked stupidly, looking around the room, as though he hadn't just been standing in it minutes ago. Slowly, it began to sink in, but where originally he felt fear and despair, now he felt an odd sort of acceptance. What exactly did he have to live for now? Ginny was dead, his best mate was dead, and if the Weasley family was sensible at all, they should very well disown him for involving them in this mess.

"Hermione," he whispered to himself. What would happen to her? Both of her best friends dead on the same night, one of whom she might have even loved if his suspicions were correct. He did not envy her, but hoped that she'd be able to cope and do all the amazing things that she had planned for after she graduated. If anyone could change the status of house elves, it was Hermione Granger.

How long had he been in there? By the silence around him, it seemed clear that the battle had yet to start. Maybe he still had time. He pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and threw it over himself. Saying goodbye would only make things worse and he might not be able to do what needed to be done. It would be easier this way, to go without fanfare.

He only stopped when he came across Neville in the Great Hall, appearing to be taking a moment for himself after helping carry the body of Colin Creevey.

"Neville."

" _Harry! You just about gave me a heart failure. Are you okay?_ "

Harry could only grimace and he felt his throat threatening to close up again at the thought of his girlfriend and so many of her family members dead.

"I know you were really close with the Weasley's. I'm sorry about all of them. I know you and Ginny were together, right?"

 _No, I broke it off with her before I went on the run_ , Harry thought, but he'd had every intention of returning to her when his task was done. It seemed like that was never meant to be. His mouth didn't seem to want to work and he felt like he was ready to burst in grief.

"Hey, it'll be okay. We'll get through it. Just don't get any ideas. We've got your back and we'll stop Voldemort no matter what it takes."

The mention of Voldemort got him back on track and his throat finally cleared up as he latched on the real reason he stopped to talk to Neville. "About that...I just want you to know that should anything happen, to me or Hermione, the snake at Voldemort's side needs to die. Goes by the name Nagini. It _must_ die."

Neville seemed a little shaken, as though he suspected what Harry was about to do, but he nodded. "Alright, Harry, I'll remember. Just hang in there. We're there for you."

Harry nodded with another grimace and then walked around the corner, until he was hidden to throw his Invisibility Cloak on once more. He didn't stop for anyone else, although it seemed a slide show of the people he knew went across his mind: Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fleur, Remus, Sirius, Professor McGonagall and on and on and on. This was it. _The game was over, the snitch was caught._ He halted so suddenly he wobbled as his mind latched onto something he'd long forgotten: the Golden Snitch Dumbledore had left him.

He reached into the moleskin pouch and pulled it out. It was strange how innocuous it appeared, but at the seam the words could just be seen faintly glowing: _I open at the close._ He held it up to his lips and whispered, _"I am about to die."_ It popped open and out fell the stone that was the centerpiece to the Gaunt ring: the resurrection stone. He closed his eyes, turned it over three times, and instantly felt a shift around him. Figures were moving in his peripheral and he glanced up. His mother and father stood in front of him, with Ginny next to her who was smiling sadly. Remus, Sirius, and Ron were by his side.

He tried to smile, but it was weak and wilted as he continued to look at Ginny.

"Oh, Harry, you're so brave," his mother said, reaching out to him as though she thought she might be able to touch him.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny. I wanted you safe."

"I know, Harry, I don't blame you at all. I wanted to help. I knew it was a risk," she replied, but her smile was almost as watery as his.

"Ron, I should have gone back for you. I feel like I abandoned you."

"You had a job to do, mate. What you found was important. I was going to ask you to take care of Hermione for me, but I know you can't," his best friend said in a strangely mature manner.

"I'm so sorry, all of you!"

"The only one who should be sorry is Voldemort," James Potter said. "It's time, son. I am so proud of you."

"Will you stay with me until the end?" Harry asked so quietly he wasn't sure if it would be heard. It felt like a pathetic request, but he still shivered in latent fear and his heart pounded like a bounding hare.

"We're always with you," his mother replied.

He nodded and began moving forward. Ginny walked so close to him that if she were an actual ghost, his left arm would feel frozen. They passed the perimeter of Dementors with little trouble, as though the shadows of his friends and family were enough to guard against the seeping chill. He stepped carefully on the squishy ground of the Forbidden Forest and almost didn't see the Death Eaters standing guard.

"The hour is almost up. No sign of Potter."

"It's time," the other said and they began walking back to wherever Voldemort had set up base.

Harry followed them as quietly as he could manage, not ready to give up this short-lived peace. _Like it matters. I will be with everyone shortly,_ he thought to himself, but his legs were beginning to shake. This cold march to his doom was harder than anything he had ever attempted. It would be so much easier to get killed in battle, in the chaos, than to simply walk to his demise.

"There's no sign of him, my Lord," one of the Death Eaters reported to Voldemort and to his credit his voice did not shake.

"A shame," Voldemort said with deadly quiet. _"I truly thought that he would come."_

Harry put Draco's wand into his moleskin pouch and folded up the Invisibility Cloak to stuff it under his shirt. He did not want to be tempted to draw in self defense, so he steeled himself up and clenched his fists to keep them from shaking, and then stepped out from between the trees.

"You weren't wrong," he called out across the clearing and was pleased to hear his voice seemed steady. The instant he connected eyes with Voldemort, he felt his calm slipping and he wanted nothing more than to throw curses at him until he disappeared into oblivion. This….man - though he hesitated to call him that - was responsible for all this tragedy. His parents, Neville's parents, the Weasley's, Cedric, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Ted Tonks. Were it not for Voldemort, none of the families he knew would have suffered! Ginny would still be alive and he would never have had to battle a Basilisk or risk his life for the Sorcerer's Stone or run the gauntlet of the Triwizard Tournament. What would life have been like if Voldemort had never been a threat? He could only imagine.

In the next moment, the clearing erupted in roars of confusion and hate. Bellatrix jumped to her feet and was panting like a dog at her master's feet. At least a dozen Death Eaters instantly pointed their wands in his direction. The great form of Hagrid, whom Harry hadn't seen before entering the clearing, shouted, "Harry! No!"

Voldemort stood in complete silence in the clearing. staring at him with a look Harry had trouble deciphering. He had expected to see triumph, but he instead appeared to be wary.

"Harry! Whatcha doin'? Get out o' here! Don' let him take ya!" Hagrid was finally silenced by another Death Eater, but his cries did not seem to perturb either Harry or Voldemort.

Harry wished it were possible to communicate a secret message to Hagrid. It wouldn't mollify him, but it might help him to understand. _This is the way it has to be._ He made it a few steps closer before he felt his legs might wobble and held his head up high.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort began, " _the boy who lived come to die._ " He peered at him in curiosity, seeming to weigh his options. No one moved. Harry hoped that Voldemort would be quick about it, before he was certain his courage would fail him. His fingers grew numb and he felt the Resurrection Stone slip between his fingers to the ground.

 _I'm coming, Ginny,_ he thought. He saw Voldemort's lips move, but no sound reached his ears. Then green light flashed and his vision whited out into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

**No trigger warnings for this chapter**

 **Author's Note:** Thank you everyone for the favorites and alerts! Since chapter 1 was almost completely a retread of the Battle of Hogwarts, I have decided to post up chapter 2. After this, though, the fic will be updated once a week, every Saturday. Enjoy!

 **Chapter 2**

Harry probably shouldn't have been so startled to realize he could open his eyes. Initially he thought he was mistaken when all he kept seeing was the white void, but then he glanced down to find he still had a physical body and that he was currently naked. He sat up from where he lay, looking around in curiosity. As he turned, he came across a robe that seemed to appear from the ether. Although he was not particularly ashamed of his nakedness here in a place of nothing, he still grabbed the robe and wrapped himself in it, pleased that it felt warm and soft against his skin.

He had never been given much of a religious education and the wizarding world was surprisingly vague on the ideas of the afterlife other than this strange assumption that it existed. Truthfully, he'd never really given much thought to it, most of his time being consumed by school, friends, and the latest drama at Hogwarts. For all the times he had been in mortal peril, he hadn't even paused once to think about it. Perhaps because he had been so close to the danger for so long that dwelling on it would only unnerve him. Regardless of his previous thoughts, he had never imagined the afterlife like this.

 _Why is it so...empty?_ He had expected to see his parents awaiting him once he made the crossing, but the place was absolutely barren, as though it was still waiting to be formed. Even as he considered the space, it felt like forms were appearing before his eyes. He saw what looked like a bench and there seemed to be some sort of form beneath it, whimpering and writhing pathetically. He stepped over to it, feeling a combination of curiosity and dread, and when he looked under the bench he recoiled.

It was hardly bigger than a baby and had a vague resemblance to one, but it's skin was raw and flaky like it had suffered severe burns. Its breath was a wheezing gasp and and it flailed weakly. Harry wanted to help it, but the thought of touching that skin made him flinch.

"Harry."

He gladly turned away to find Dumbledore standing some distance away in his familiar midnight blue robes with the silver stars and moon, but instead of the benign smile and a twinkle in the eyes, his face was drawn and solemn. "I'm so sorry, Harry. It was never supposed to go this way."

"And how was it supposed to go?"

Dumbledore sat heavily down on another bench that had materialized, as though he willed it for that purpose. Harry went to go sit down beside him, unsure whether to feel grateful to Dumbledore or furious. How much of the Dumbledore he knew was an act and how much was genuine?

"It was my belief that while there would be suffering, even I dared not believe it would be to this scale. This is the first time in its history that Hogwarts has been a battleground. Even when the founders were at odds with each other, no one dared to attack the school. Something that was a home to so many students of magic made Hogwarts virtually sacrosanct. This is the greatest tragedy to ever happen to the school. My heart goes out to all of the students and their families who have suffered as a result, no matter how great the cause."

"And of course, my heart goes out to you. Thanks in part to your efforts, many of the students today are much more capable at defending themselves than they would have been otherwise."

"But it wasn't enough."

"No, I am afraid it wasn't."

They sat quietly for a moment. Harry couldn't help but feel a pang in the heart for his old headmaster. Even after the lies and the secrecy, he still felt deep down that Dumbledore truly had meant well. It was difficult to believe that he had never cared for the school and he always trusted Dumbledore to have his best interests at heart.

"Were the hallows nothing after all?"

"No, they were not nothing. _They were real. Whether the three brothers met Death on the road, no one can really be sure. I think it's far more likely that they were gifted, dangerous wizards who made objects far too powerful. The Elder wand, the Deathstick as you well know now, can be traced throughout history, leaving a bloody path in its wake._ My once friend, Gellert Grindelwald stole it from Gregorovitch. And I, finally, after it was almost too shameful, pursued Gellert and dueled him into submission, the Elder wand now mine. Its legacy should've ended with me."

"And now Voldemort has murdered me with it."

"Perhaps."

Harry blinked. "Perhaps? He cast the killing curse at me. I wouldn't be here talking to you if I were alive."

"And yet, here you are."

 _Harry glared. "Explain."_

" _You already know. Think for a moment. Think about what Voldemort has done through his greed and arrogance."_

" _He took my blood."_

" _Precisely,"_ And at this point, Dumbledore couldn't seem to resist smiling at him. _"He took your blood, the very same blood that carries your mother's protection. As long as her protection lives, so do you."_

"But then why am I here? What is this place."

" _It is a crossing. As for what it is, I was going to ask you that. Where are we?"_

" _Don't you know?"_

" _My boy, this is, as they say, your party. Where are we?"_

"It kind of looks like King's Cross."

"Does it really?"

"What does that mean?"

" _I suppose it's a way for you to board a train."_

" _Where will it take me?"_

" _On."_

"But I don't actually have to board the train?"

"No, you don't."

There was another moment of silence. Harry was once more contemplating how it was that he could survive the Killing curse twice when others like Ginny were so less fortunate. Just the thought of her made him want to start sobbing all over again. Dumbledore seemed to sense this and his smile fell from his face once more. He tried to push her from his mind - he would be seeing her soon after all - and fell on a subject that he had wanted the truth about.

"So, Rita Skeeter was right about you?"

"For once, she was. No shameless stretching of the truth necessary," Dumbledore said, bitterness and regret clear in his voice.

"What happened?"

"Two months of insanity. Just as I had finished at Hogwarts, top of my class, the highest NEWTs of any student in one hundred years, and then my mother died, leaving me, the eldest son, in charge of my wayward brother and ill sister. I was angry and restless. I wanted so much to shine and seek glory! I was incredibly selfish, more selfish than you could imagine."

"I don't think so," Harry replied. "It seems only natural. Hermione wants much of the same."

"She's not in it for the recognition, but for the harmony of others and the pursuit of knowledge."

"I have difficulty believing you weren't also in pursuit of knowledge; you became a teacher after all."

"Oh, but I was a fool, Harry. As gifted, as clever as I was, I was the only who could not see the monster lurking beneath the surface. You know everything. The fight began when Aberforth stood between me and my journey, insisting that I could not leave, especially with such an ill family member. I did not want to hear the truths shouted at me. Gellert only grew angry and in a fit of rage, he pulled his wand out on my brother. I tried to stop him. There were the flashes of spells and when it had all cleared Arianna lie dead on the floor. Gellert fled and I was forced to bury my sister and forever bear the shame of being the one responsible for her death."

Harry felt his heart sink. He remembered Aberforth's coarse words and felt sorry for Dumbledore. While he may have been able to put on a good act, it was something that he had clearly never gotten over. For all of his faults, it seemed wrong to see him suffer.

"I do not deserve your pity, Harry. Neither then nor now. _Pity the living and most of all, those who live without love."_

"What now then? Shall I get on the train?" Harry asked, glancing toward the rails half expecting to see a steam engine much like the Hogwarts Express with its doors thrown open.

"I do believe we agreed that you're not dead. You can go back, Harry."

"For what? Ron's dead, Ginny's dead. Mr. Weasley, Fred, Remus, Tonks, and Colin Creevey. If the Weasley's had any sense, they'd never speak to me again."

"We both know that you are family to them. They will accept you back to mourn with them."

"They shouldn't. It's my fault they're all dead."

"The fault we can lay for their deaths is at the Death Eaters' and Voldemort's feet. They will not blame you. You have other friends who need you."

"I don't want to go back. What would be the point?"

"To see to it that Voldemort is dead, that fewer families are maimed by him and his followers."

Harry frowned. Those were entirely worthy goals, but something inside him rebelled. He had put other people at the forefront for too long, always pushing away and delaying his own chance at happiness. It was this that had caused him to break things off with Ginny at Dumbledore's funeral and where had it gotten him? Heaps of suffering, torture, and the one person he felt he could spend the rest of his life with dead. "As soon as someone kills the snake, that'll be the last Horcrux keeping Voldemort alive. Anyone could kill him after that."

"True enough."

"I'm done." He stood up and began walking towards the platform. Almost exactly as he imagined it, a steam engine came rolling up. He studied it curiously, finding it interesting that he should find something as mundane as a steam engine to take him to the afterlife.

"There is one other option, Harry."

He turned almost impatiently.

"I am...compelled to offer you another chance at defeating Voldemort."

"How will I do that?"

"You will go back to the summer you turned eleven. You will reshape your destiny and perhaps save a few lives?"

"I don't understand, Professor."

"This is not at all how it was supposed to be."

"Yes, you've said that. But this is the way it is."

"It doesn't have to be. You have been given the choice of returning to the summer before you received your Hogwarts letter."

"How?"

"You are to board that train," Dumbledore said and his arm raised to gesture in a vague direction, but he never raised his eyes.

Harry turned and saw yet another train, no different from the one behind him, however this one was pointed in a direction perpendicular to the other.

"Harry, consider carefully. I do not know what it could mean for you to go back in time. You know the lessons of the time turner. Meddling with time could produce consequences that you cannot predict."

"I thought that was only if you encountered yourself, but there aren't going to be two of me, right?"

"No, there will not, but that doesn't mean there won't be consequences."

"But Ginny will be alive. And so will Ron and the rest of the Weasley's! Sirius and Remus, too. I could free Sirius so that he won't be a wanted man!" Already the ideas were flying as Harry recounted every single moment he had wished to go back and change since he had learned of the Time Turner's existence.

"Even if you go back, that doesn't mean it will be easy," Dumbledore assuaged, the expression on his face was stricken. "Consider carefully, Harry, please."

"Then why tell me this? Are you manipulating me again? Trying to trick me?"

"No tricks, Harry. No manipulation. Only truth. You meddle with time at your own peril and I beg you to reconsider. I wouldn't have mentioned if I did not have to."

"What do you mean by that?" Harry felt a lump in his throat. Dumbledore all at once looked just as old and feeble as it had that night atop the Astronomy Tower.

"This isn't at all how it was supposed to go. I'm to give you a second chance."

"Who is telling you this?"

"I'm not sure. It's...a presence is the only way I can describe it. It does not often bend people to its will, but when it does...it's impossible to resist."

Harry felt another pang. "You have to understand. I can fix this. I could _save_ everybody."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"But I can try! I have to try! I'm sorry Dumbledore, but it's better than nothing." With that, Harry turned on his heel and crossed the way to the new train. The doors were already open and he hesitated only a moment before climbing in.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Thank you everyone who favorited or added this story to your alerts! I have some interesting twists ahead of you.

 **Trigger Warning:** Child abuse is inferred.

 **JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter world**

 **Chapter 3**

Harry shot bolt upright in his bed and bashed his head right into the bottom of the stairs. He yelped and held his forehead in his hands, buried it in his pillow, as the pain radiated from it.

 _Thump, thump, thump._ His door ripped open and outside it stood a beefy thick man, sneering down at him.

"What the Devil are you doing, boy?"

"S-sorry, Uncle Vernon. I had a nightmare."

"I don't care what happened. Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Yes sir," Harry replied. He flinched when Uncle Vernon slammed his cupboard door, and he could hear him stomping his way upstairs again and muttering curses under his breath. Harry only stirred again when he heard the bedroom door shut and then he turned over and stared into the darkness of his cupboard.

 _That was a mad dream,_ he thought as he closed his eyes and thought back. Unlike most dreams where the details started to fade, these remained as fragmented moments in time. He saw a grotesque looking man with no nose sneering at him before producing a green light from a strange stick. There was a beautiful redhead girl lying as if asleep, but the image caused his heart to wrench painfully. The dream had been a long one, seeming to go through his whole life, and he saw himself petting a snowy white owl, a stern looking woman with a witches hat turning into a cat. His favorite part of the dream had been the odd sensation of seemingly flying through the air on a broom, free as a bird.

 _I liked being a wizard. I wish magic was real,_ he thought to himself, despite all the dangerous moments, it had been a pleasant dream. He'd had friends, other people who cared about him. He closed his eyes as he mentally retraced some of the classes that he had taken. He sat up abruptly and stared at the cupboard door. It had a sliding lock on the outside, which prevented him from going anywhere after his curfew. He mustered up every bit of mental energy and focused on the tiny door, raising his hand spread wide as though he could indeed conduct magical energy. " _Alohamora,"_ he whispered loudly, but even after all of that, the lock stayed where it was.

Harry sighed and fell back onto his pillow. It really had been too good to be true. Summer had only just arrived, but already he was dreading the end of it. On the one hand, Dudley would be going to Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings, but he would be stuck in a dingy old public school called Stonewall High. Without Dudley, though,, he might actually make some friends and without having to compete with him he could also try reasonably hard at school. He liked learning, but he had been sent to his cupboard with no dinner for two days for getting a better report card in first grade.

Not for the first time he had wished that there was something else out there ready to welcome him with open arms. That was probably what prompted the dream in the first place. There had been strange occurrences that seemed to happen around him and everyone once in awhile he would run into strange people who seemed to know him. He remembered a small man in a top hat bowing to him, which caused Aunt Petunia to panic and rush him and Dudley out of the store. An older woman had waved at him on a bus and a strangely tall man had actually shaken his hand. All of these instances had caused his aunt to be extremely paranoid and it caused her to look around cautiously as though she thought she was being followed.

 _One day I'll get away from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. They can't keep me forever_ , he mused to himself and then yawned, turned over, and was back asleep in minutes.

Over the next month, Harry had a peculiar sense of deja vu and at the same time it being not quite right. He'd actually felt lost in the house he'd grown up in. The images of his dreams fought for prominence in the forefront in his mind and he was stunned to find clashing images of the house. The wallpaper in the hallway was different. The stairs, the kitchen, the living room and half bath were all on the 'wrong' side of the house.

But perhaps, more disturbingly, he realized that Aunt Petunia was nowhere near as nasty as she had been in the dream. Was there actually a smile on her face when she saw him? It seemed Uncle Vernon was twice as nasty to make up for it. The morning after he'd woken them up with his scream from the nightmare, Uncle Vernon had come down purple with a pulse throbbing in his forehead. When his eyes fell on Harry, his mouth had curled into a snarl not unlike a wolve's and said, "It's the switch for you, boy."

Aftrward, when Harry was near inert with pain, Aunt Petunia came to him after Uncle Vernon had left with a cup of hot chocolate and a bag of frozen peas.

"I keep telling you, Harry, to stay out of his way. Don't attract his attention," she whispered, tenderly tucking him in with a blanket on the couch.

"I didn't mean to," he cried softly, his eyes stinging with tears at the pain that radiated from his back.

"I'll keep Dudley away from you for the day. You keep an eye on the clock and make sure you're out of here before he gets home." She left him the remote for the TV and didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

The feeling of not quite being comfortable in his own skin or head persisted. He was spending his days biding his time and trying to make sense of why nothing felt quite right. He could vaguely remember the end of the dream where he'd been given the option to go back in time and correct some mistakes and he _knew_ that he had gotten on that train. Was this it? Was he even a wizard? He had continued at various times to try magic like _Lumos_ and he hadn't even caused anything around him to even tremble. After the dozenth time trying this, he sighed in despair and accepted the fact that witches and wizards didn't exist and that he was being foolish for thinking so.

One cloudy day near the end of June, Harry was out front weeding the garden. It was one of many chores he was forced to do during the week. He hadn't been out there for very long, but he was going at it with the speed of a sloth. Ever since the dream and deciding that magic didn't really exist after all, he had been in a depressive funk. Even when he finally went to school apart from Dudley, Uncle Vernon continued bullying him with the pervasive attitude that he would never amount to anything. Harry wished nothing more than the chance to get away, but the law required him to wait until seventeen before he could forge out on his own. He had a feeling that Uncle Vernon would be ready with a foot waiting to kick him out the door that day. That was still seven, almost six, years away and until then he would be stuck in this torture.

Aunt Petunia was kind enough to set an icy glass of water for him by the front door in the shade, and he went over there to drink from it and stick his hand in it before slapping the back of his neck and relishing the cold water that seeped down his shirt. He stared out across the yard and blinked as he saw an animal hurrying along up the driveway towards the house.

Harry cocked his head in curiosity as a pure white cat with short fur and big blue eyes sat down in front of him as though they had business to do. _Is this normal cat behavior?_ The Dursleys had never owned any pets besides a tortoise. Aunt Petunia didn't want one as it would ruin any chance at having a speckless house.

"Well, hello there. Are you hungry? I might be able to get you some sliced turkey from the fridge."

"I am actually," the cat suddenly said in a low voice.

Harry gasped and knocked over his glass of water as he scrambled back. The cat looked at the water eagerly as it spread across the pavement and set down to lap it up. His heart was pounding frantically as he watched the cat drink the water, but when it failed to do anything else that was strange, he slowly started to inch forward again.

"I just imagined it talking. I just wished it could talk. It didn't actually happen," he muttered to himself.

"I beg your pardon," the cat said, looking back up at him again with an affronted expression. "You're not hallucinating, Harry. I _am_ talking to you."

He began to get lightheaded and willed himself to not faint.

"H-how!?"

The cat blinked at him in confusion and tilted its head. "Have you already forgotten what happened? How could that be?"

"What happened?"

"Your life, Harry! You came back here in time to save your friends from their fate, so that they may live long, happy lives that Voldemort stole from them. Do you not remember?"

"I...I," he began and then thought back to the vivid dream he had woken up from a month ago. "So that wasn't a dream? I really did live that."

"Yes, you did. I am here to help guide you."

There was something familiar about the voice of the cat. He had noticed it from the first time it started speaking, but had been too panicked to think on it. Now he was looking at the cat carefully and he asked, "Professor Dumbledore? Is that you?'

"Yes, I was sent here to help you."

"But - wha - I don't...why are you a cat?"

"I'm not sure. It's taken me quite some time to get here and while I was traveling, I thought about it along the way. You see, I manifested in Hogsmeade, initially in this form. I had to make a quick getaway as I saw my other self down the street. Once in the Forbidden Forest, I felt that something was pulling me. It was more like something nagging me at the back of my head and I could not help but follow it. It took me some time to realize I was never going to reach it as a cat, so the instant I thought about flying, an owl came to mind, and the next thing I knew I was a Barn Owl. Flight isn't an instant thing and it took quite a bit of trial and error before I made it into the skies. Hagrid's acromantula friends aided me there" - the tone was clearly bitter at this point - "but I eventually realized that the nagging feeling was your presence. I was meant to find you. I must say, not being able to apparate or ride the train truly does make me appreciate how big this country is."

"That still doesn't explain why you're a cat."

"Patience, dear boy, I'm getting to it." Then Professor Dumbledore's eyes widened and he darted around the corner.

"Harry, what on Earth are you doing?"

"Oh, I uh was just getting a drink of water, Aunt Petunia."

"My glass! What happened to it?" His aunt asked sternly.

Harry glanced over to it and felt the bottom fell out of his stomach. There was a long jagged crack down the side from where he'd knocked it over. "I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia. Please don't tell Uncle Vernon!"

"He's going to realize something's wrong when the glass count is off," she replied. She appeared almost as nervous as Harry and she bit her lip. "He'll know." On that forbidding note, she turned back into the house.

Dumbledore the cat peered back round the corner once she'd gone, but he found Harry staring numbly at the glass, dragging his finger along the crack.

"It can be fixed, Harry. Your uncle doesn't have to know," the cat said, once again sitting next to him.

"But how? I've tried to do magic since I woke up here and it won't work."

"That's because you're eleven again. You need to relearn how to do magic."

"Even before I was eleven, I couldn't do wandless magic."

"I can teach you. I daresay you'll find it quite useful. It's detected as accidental magic, so you'll never get a black note on your record for doing magic outside of school."

"Okay, but in one afternoon?"

"I won't lie to you, Harry, it'll be difficult now that I no longer have a human body, but we can manage. Now, it will probably be easier if you close your eyes. I want you to shed all of your emotions. This will be much easier with a clearer mind. You may acknowledge your fear and doubt and then let it go. Inhale deeply and exhale deeply. Focus on the way your breath moves in and out of your body."

Harry was never good at separating his emotions from himself. It was so much of who he was, but if he could just learn a little bit of magic now, it'd be worth the effort. He tried to focus on the way his chest expanded and the strange sensation of his ribs being unused to such a large inhalation. It was calming and Harry enjoyed the feeling of forgetting about his troubles for just a moment.

"Now, every witch and wizard is born with their well of power. It neither shrinks nor grows throughout a witch or wizard's life; it is an increased understanding of magic and how to access it that counts. The more you learn, the deeper you will be able to dip into that well. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Harry replied. His voice felt far away and apart from his being.

"Very good. Now search with your mind. Most describe their well of power as something that glows, like the sun. Others describe it as a still pond that they feel they can literally deep their hands into to pull out. And still others say it is like a sleeping dragon ready to wake up and blow fire. Imagining one of these images may help you."

Harry latched onto the sleeping dragon, and since it was the dragon he was most familiar with, it took the image of the Hungarian Horntail he battled in 4th year. In his mind's eye, he could imagine it curled up like a cat around its nest of eggs. He could see its scales rise and fall as it breathed. It may not be real, but he could feel his nerves climbing as he felt himself gearing up to poke the sleeping dragon. He prodded it in the ribs, but it didn't even so much as twitch. Throwing all caution aside, he imagined giving the dragon a swift kick in the ribs and this time it jerked awake with a growl; its eyes seemed to settle on him and glow with fire.

"Now say the spell."

" _Reparo,_ " Harry said as his heart leapt into his throat over the image of the sleeping dragon and his eyes flew open just as he imagined its jaws closing around him. He looked down at the glass and was disappointed to see it still had the crack in it.

"You'll have to try again, Harry."

"I didn't feel anything."

"This is very difficult magic, Harry, but you can learn. Now, again."

It took five more tries. The second try Harry tried to imagine the sun, but he felt like the metaphor was confusing. He tried the pond next and, again, it did not seem to meld well with his mindset and went back to the sleeping dragon, since he'd had such a close encounter with one. On the third try of the sleeping dragon, Harry felt a surge of warmth that seemed to shoot up the arm holding the glass.

"You did it," Professor Dumbledore said and he closed his eyes, pulled his whispers back against his face and purred.

It was such a ridiculous image that Harry giggled, but then he glanced down at the glass up and beamed to find the glass was seamless once more.

"Now mind getting me some of that turkey?"

Harry had to stifle his laughter again at the thought of Professor Dumbledore pleading for food as a cat, but he nodded and made his way into the house. A few minutes later, Dumbledore the cat was chowing down on a slice of turkey. Harry took another sip of his water and then returned back to pulling weeds. Now that the glass was fixed, he didn't want to get in trouble yet again by not having his chores done. Dumbledore padded out to him as he pulled out another weed.

"I didn't finish my story," the cat replied.

"You'll have to tell it to me while I work," Harry replied.

"It's truly a shame you don't remember more about how to use your magic. It'd be much easier than this drudge," the cat said and decided to settle behind a bush that was out of sight of Petunia in case she poked her head out again. "Now where was I? Oh yes, I did wonder quite a bit why I manifested as an animal and you got to keep your body. I think it has to do with the fact that, by the time I saw you in Beyond, I was already dead."

"And I wasn't," Harry replied matter-of-factly.

"Yes, precisely. Perhaps I had been dead too long to be able to go back into my body? Or perhaps, as headmaster of Hogwarts, that simply wasn't where I was needed."

"It might've been more helpful for you to be headmaster," Harry said with a frown as he thought about it. "You could've found all of Voldemort's Horcruxes and destroyed them while I was stuck in school. We could have been ready by the end of my first year to kill Voldemort once and for all."

"Harry, he saved himself from dying with Quirrell by dispossessing the body. We needed to outright kill his true body in order to kill him."

"Do you know how to kill a spirit like that?"

"Yeeeess."

Harry glanced up at Dumbledore who seemed to have that familiar benign smile on his face as he lazy swished his tail against the ground.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Harry, the only magic that I know of that can harm spirits of a sort is all dark. I would not dare impart that knowledge to you," he said.

"Oh," Harry replied. "Not even a little bit?"

"Absolutely not!" With that Dumbledore the cat pounded his tail against the ground in irritation. "The instant you use even a little bit of dark magic, it begins to corrode your soul."

"So...when I imperiused the goblin at Gringotts and when I cruciod Alecto Carrow, I injured my soul?"

"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "Only a little, but for many dark spells that's sometimes enough.

Harry sighed. "It would have been nice to know some of this."

Dumbledore sighed as well. "I'm sorry, Harry. I have come to realize that I failed you in more than one aspect. I will do my best to make up for that now."

"How do you intend on doing that?"

"By teaching you, of course. I want you to learn wandless magic as a means of self-defense. I might as well teach you Occlumency while I'm at it."

Harry glared at the cat, pulling a weed more vigorously than he intended. "Why did you make Snape teach me then?"

"As you learned, the teacher of Occlumency becomes vulnerable themselves to having their mind scoured by a legilimens. I could not afford Voldemort to see into my mind and understand my secrets and plans. That would most certainly have been disastrous. I am sorry, Harry, but Snape was required to teach you and as he was a double agent, he was forced to teach you badly so that he could leave you vulnerable to Voldemort. It was a poor plan, but I had hoped you might learn it in _spite_ of Snape's teachings. That is one of the errors I made," Dumbledore replied with a bowed head.

"Well, you're going to teach me this time. This is what second chances are for and if I get one, then so do you. I just want you to make one promise."

"Anything," the cat said and stared up at him with an eagerness that was almost touching.

"Promise you'll never lie to me from now on."

"I promise," the cat said quietly, but his eyes were unwaveringly fixed onto Harry's. Then he broke away, blinked slowly, and then yawned in the early afternoon sunlight. "I am quite exhausted, Harry. I think I will take a nap if you don't mind."

"Sure," Harry replied. He may have grown comfortable in cat Dumbledore's presence but it was still strange to think of the old headmaster sprawled on his side and sleeping in the dirt.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Thank you, everyone, for your reviews, and putting this fic on your faves and alerts! It's very encouraging. =)

JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

No Trigger Warnings.

 **Chapter 4**

It had been a week since cat Dumbledore had met up with Harry and despite his best efforts, the cat currently resisted the comforts of the indoors. Harry initially promised that he might be able to sneak him into his cupboard before his uncle got home, but Dumbledore poked holes into that seriously flawed plan. Harry relented and decided to introduce him to the shed in the back yard, which Dumbledore seemed happy enough to claim as his home. Harry _still_ hadn't gotten over that Dumbledore was a cat now.

Summer seemed to be passing with the speed of a Firebolt broom and already the household was gearing up for the new school year. Aunt Petunia had taken Dudley to get his new Smeltings uniform. It looked as ridiculous now as it did in his other life and he had to screw his face up in painful ways to prevent himself from laughing. However, the one part he didn't laugh about was the Smelting stick. He'd been whacked in the head a fair few times with it before, so he eyed it warily as Dudley swung it around like a sword.

The next morning Harry entered the room and wrinkled his nose at the foul smell coming from the tub in the sink. His stomach flipped as he went to look into it and recognized the gray rags he was expected to wear to Stonewall High. Even as long ago as this memory had been before, it still stood sharp and clear in his mind: this was the day his _first_ Hogwarts letter arrived. This time he wouldn't make the mistake of opening it in front of his uncle.

He didn't bother asking about the clothes and simply took his place at the table where fruits, bread, butter, and jam had already been placed. Uncle Vernon and Dudley came into the kitchen a few minutes later with the same withered expressions as they too sat down at the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and a stack of letters fall to the doormat.

" _Go get the mail, Dudley," Uncle Vernon said from behind his newspaper._

" _Make Harry get it!"_

" _Go get the mail Harry."_

"Make Dudley get it," Harry shouted back, feeling it important to play his part.

" _Hit him with your stick, Dudley."_

However, Harry was already out of his seat and dodged around the stick. Uncle Vernon never made Dudley do anything, especially at Harry's request. He picked up the letters and flipped through them like normal until he came across the familiar thick parchment and emerald green handwriting. It didn't matter how many years had passed, his heart soared the way it had when Hagrid had finally handed him his first letter. He allowed himself to grin like a fool for half a second then he stuffed the letter down the front of his pants and pulled his shirt over it. As he was wearing Dudley's second hand clothes, it wasn't hard to conceal the letter behind the parachute-sized shirt.

" _What's taking so long, boy? Checking for letter bombs?"_ Uncle Vernon laughed at his own terrible joke.

Harry trudged back to the table and obediently laid the bills and postcard down by Vernon, and then once again started helping himself to breakfast. As he ate, his senses seemed heightened and he felt his heart pound against his chest as he expected Uncle Vernon to grab him and demand where the letter was, but the breakfast table remained calm. Dudley buttered his third piece of toast with butter and jam, Uncle Vernon began flipping through the letters, and Aunt Petunia stayed hovering around the sink.

He couldn't wait to show Dumbledore but as he looked at the food spread in front of him, he felt a little pang. There was nothing here that a cat could eat. He'd have to sneak back after Uncle Vernon left for work, and Dudley and Aunt Petunia went elsewhere. He gobbled down the strawberries, grapes, and blueberries he was allowed then slipped away out front.

"Where do you think you're going, boy?" Vernon shouted at him.

"For a walk," Harry replied.

"Not until you clean up this breakfast."

Harry went back to the table and began picking up the fruit. Vernon slapped his hand. "We're not done eating yet," he snarled, leering at Harry as though he expected him to object.

So Harry meekly sat down at the table. He'd love nothing more than wait for them to leave from his cupboard where he could at least expect some privacy, but he had a feeling Vernon wouldn't allow that. On any normal day, Harry would just be bored, but now he wondered if Uncle Vernon had a sixth sense that told him Harry was hiding something and was deliberately making him sweat. But no, Uncle Vernon and Dudley finally finished and left the table. It took all of Harry's effort not to scramble and put everything away at top speed. That would certainly cause suspicion.

Finally, he was free to go and he walked out of the house and started heading off down the street. He didn't like taking a straight route from the backdoor to the shed. Someone would surely see him doing that often enough and wonder what he was up to. He thought of animal abuse as abhorrent, one of the worst crimes a human being could commit, and he would not put it past either Vernon or Dudley to abuse an animal that Harry found interesting No, he had to be careful about this.

After half an hour of walking in circles, Harry eventually doubled around and came at Privet Drive #2 through the back way. Once he'd slipped through the door, he grinned down at the cat that was crawling out from under a shelf, yawning and stretching. "Professor, I got my letter."

The cat flipped his tail as if irritated and then said, "Harry, I've been meaning to bring this up to you."

"Yes?"

"You shouldn't call me Professor or Dumbledore. We'll have to find another name."

Harry grimaced and sighed. "I suppose you're right, but it seems insensitive."

"Hardly, it's merely practical."

"What should I call you?"

"A cat name. Treat me like a pet."

Harry shook his head at the idea. "I know no one can know about you, but you're not a pet. I would feel really weird treating you like that."

"This has to be done. You're just going to have to grow comfortable with the idea," Dumbledore had hardly ever taken a stern tone with him, but it was clear now and in the whipping of his tail. "Now, think, what would a little boy name his cat?"

Harry raised his eyebrow at him. "Snowy? Snowflake? Snowball?"

Cat Dumbledore looked bored at those names. "Is that all? While I'll agree that those are the names a young boy would use, I'd expect you to have more imagination than that."

Harry huffed in irritation. "I read a book for school called _Tailchaser's Song_. It was about cats. I could use their naming style. I believe they had a cat named…Whitewind?"

"That's more palatable," Dumbledore said, but he seemed dissatisfied.

"You come up with a name then."

"I apologize for not liking your names, Harry, but if I have to go by it then I have to like it."

"I suppose that's fair enough. I think there was another cat in the book called Cloudjumper? I could just be making that up."

Dumbledore's ears perked up at that and he said, "Cloudjumper? Nix the jumper, I think Cloud's a good name."

"Cloud?"

"Yes, a fitting name for a young boy's pet where I won't be one of a thousand Snowballs."

"I bet there are a thousand Clouds, too."

"Not from what I've seen of the roster of pets that have frequented Hogwarts. Cloud, please."

"Alright, I'll refer to you as Cloud."

The newly dubbed Cloud closed his eyes in satisfaction and purred once more. "Now, about that letter!"

Harry sat down with his legs crossed and Cloud squeezed up close to him with his paws on his legs so that they could both read the letter.

 _Hogwarts SChool of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

 _Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

 _Yours Sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

He may have received the first letter twice now, but Harry had a difficult time containing his excitement, as he grinned at the parchment. _Maybe it's because I've been miserable here after only a month with the Dursleys,_ he thought.

"Hmm…" Harry glanced up from the letter to see Cloud staring at him in curiosity. "For all my years at Hogwarts, I've never actually had the pleasure of watching a child receive their first letter."

Harry felt his face grow hot and he glanced down in shame. "It's stupid. I've already received the letter, I already know what I'm going to learn."

"Nonsense, Harry, it's hardly silly, even if you've already been. I'm glad to know that you enjoyed Hogwarts when you were there."

"Not all of my years," he muttered bitterly as he remembered his 5th year with Umbridge ruling the school with an iron first. He would have to think of new and creative ways to tear her down.

Cloud grimaced too and seemed to know which year he was referring to by the dark look on his face. "We'll find a way to knock her down a peg. Now that I don't have to retain a sense of decorum, it should be fun throwing her into the mud with the pigs."

"How will you manage that when you're a cat?" Harry asked, but he smiled. It was fun to see a different side of Dumbledore.

"I'll think of something. Now the letter!"

They read through the first year list. It all seemed as it was before, but Harry hesitated on the last line.

 _Students may also bring an owl, OR a cat, OR a toad. If they have paired off, they may also bring their companion._

"A companion? Any idea what they're talking about?"

Cloud was peering closely at the paper , swishing his tail back and forth. "I'm afraid not. Companion? It seems clear that it's considered separate from a pet, but to what purpose? Hmm...this will take some puzzling."

"I suppose we could always wait to find out when I go to Diagon Alley."

"Yes…"

"Now, how am I supposed to send a letter back with my reply?"

"I have to admit, that was one of my grossest errors regarding you. I thought surely your family, the Dursleys, would be happy to take you in and raise you as their own. Minerva warned me otherwise, but I thought surely they wouldn't do anything to harm their nephew." Cloud sighed heavily. "I was wrong and I apologize, Harry. Once again, my arrogance got in the way and I failed to heed the warnings of my peers. But I was so certain you'd be safer there than anywhere else!" Cloud's whiskers drooped and he slumped dejectedly.

"Well, you were sort of right, weren't you? I mean I got attacked by a Dementor when I wandered too far outside the blood wards."

"Even so, you deserved a happy life, especially after I created the machinations that would lead to your death. I am sorry."

Harry felt like it would be awkward to pat a cat, but Cloud looked so morose and regretful that he pushed his caution aside and lightly patted him in comfort. "No matter. So, how am I going to get this back to Hogwarts? How do muggleborns do it?"

"Well," Cloud began and flicked his tail in irritation, "Muggleborns do not receive their letter in the same way you did. They don't know about magic at all, so Minerva usually goes to their doorstep with their letter in hand and introduces them to the magical world."

"That would have been useful."

"Indeed. I can't believe it took me until the 30th to send someone for you last time. I just presumed you'd know." Cloud shrugged off the regret once more and said, "Anyway, some half blood families live pretty close to the muggle world and therefore an owl leaving the house would look quite peculiar. A student there was expected to send their reply using the postal service. You'd just write Hogwarts on the letter and it will get treated much the same way a letter to the muggle Santa will get treated. There is a magical network in place designed to locate such letters, sieve them from the rest of the mail, and show up at a wizarding post, where then the postmaster there would be expected to send all Hogwarts letters onward. The school pays for this service."

"I guess that shouldn't surprise me," Harry replied and was already trying to decide where he might find paper and envelope. Uncle Vernon would certainly tan his hide if he ever found out, but Hogwarts was worth it.

"There is another way," Cloud said, locking eyes with Harry and imploring deeply. "I...could take your letter to Hogwarts. I know the way."

Harry balked at the idea. "No, I won't have you take the letter. It'd make me feel like some kind of monster. You're my friend."

"How is this any different than letting Hedwig do it?"

"Hedwig was my friend, but I know she also enjoyed taking and bringing me letters. That's not your purpose. Besides, I don't want to be left alone here."

"Very well, we'll send it by post. This is, after all, your letter to send and I shall respect your wishes."

"Good. Wait here. I'm going to see if Petunia's gone or at least busy."

Harry stole into the house and for a few tense moments listened for a sound. He could hear the TV going in the living room and tried to make his steps absolutely silent. There was paper and an envelope in a kitchen drawer literally right down the hall from the living room. It took some doing, but he never heard anyone stir from the kitchen and he was able to sneak an envelope and some paper. He crept out the front door so that he wouldn't have to go through the whole house again, went around a corner, and waited with bated breath. He ran back to the shed and slipped inside once more.

"Alright, I think I got away clean," he said. "Now, what should I write? 'Dear Deputy Headmistress McGonagall? And? I should probably feign ignorance, right, since I'm not supposed to know about magic?"

"I think that would be for the best," Cloud replied. "Ask her to send someone to explain things a little better. I have no doubt she'll go herself; I remember back then she was itching to hex the Dursleys."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I have to admit, Dumbl-Cloud, you have a mean streak I wouldn't expect you to have."

"When people I care about are suffering, I get vindictive."

"Oh shoot!"

"What?"

"I meant to get some turkey for you when I was in there. I'm sorry. I know you haven't eaten yet today."

"Actually, I have," Cloud replied with a queer look on his face.

"How did you manage that?"

"Let's focus on the letter, shall we?"

It shouldn't surprise him that Cloud clearly hunted for his breakfast, but it made his insides want to writhe at the very thought. "Okay, how about this?"

 _Thank you ever so much for the letter. If this is a hoax, it's very clever, but I shall take you at your word. I doubt that my aunt and uncle will let me go, but would you be so kind as to send someone out? I have no idea where to go or the first thing to do. None of the items on the list sound like anything I could hope to find in any shop._

 _I await your reply,_

 _Harry Potter_

"Very good. It gets your point across nicely. After July 31st, the cut off, McGonagall schedules a day for all Muggleborns to meet at King's Cross for the grand tour, which would include the instructions to get onto the train platform. Then she shows them Diagon Alley. We have found it's the best way to start integrating muggleborns into their new culture and they can start making friends with one another. Again, that's something you should have been included for the first time."

"I imagine Professor McGonagall will include me this time. Do I need a stamp?"

"No. Just Hogwarts on the front will be enough. When you come back, we'll do your exercises for wandless magic again."

Harry rushed to the mailbox and slipped the letter in. Once more, he was started on his journey to Hogwarts. _If McGonagall includes me in the muggleborn introductory tour, I'll meet Hermione early! I can't wait to see her!_ It was strange. The last few years in the other world never had a span longer than a day of pure happiness. It was like he had forgotten what it felt like.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** I want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and added this story to their alerts! I really appreciate it and I hope you continue to enjoy.

Now, just an fyi, I always felt like Dumbledore really did have Harry's best interests at heart, but because of the nature of war and probably not a little bit of Dumbledore's propensity to overlook certain things and keep secrets, he came off a lot worse as a result. I wanted to give him a second chance at redemption and felt like he'd make the perfect guide to assist Harry (since altering time tends to get messy).

Also, I have a specific cover image for this fic and keeps reverting it back to my generic avatar. Does anyone know of a way to fix this?

 **No trigger warnings for this chapter**

 **Chapter 5**

The month of July had never felt so long. Harry received a reply from Professor McGonagall a week after he'd sent his letter.

 _Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _I am alarmed to hear that you have not been informed of your magical status and I will rectify that situation in due time. On August 1st, I hold a tour for muggleborn students, students who, like yourself, are not familiar with the magical world. If you would like to be included in this tour, please send a note back the same way you sent me your reply._

 _Yours Sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Harry couldn't resist beaming at the letter as he shared it with Cloud, who liked to purr when he was pleased. He sent a reply and then Cloud continued with his wandless magic training.

It was getting easier "poking the dragon" as they called it. The idea was that his magical well of power, having been unused was 'sleeping' and needed to be woken up. The more he delved into his magical power, the easier it would be to 'wake the dragon' until it was awake and tamed to his satisfaction.

"While casting with a wand is different, you are already exercising your power and you'll reach your full potential much faster. If you study hard you may need fewer than seven years to get you where you were before," Cloud told him.

This made Harry ecstatic and he was eager to get back to form. Going from being a full capable and adult wizard to one who could barely unlock doors was handicapping. He likened himself to a clumsy puppy trying his strength and by the end of his time at Hogwarts would be a full grown dog, swift and sure-footed. He recalled how during Hogwarts, while he did do his homework, it usually wasn't without a considerable amount of prodding and grumbling, mostly by Hermione. After the trials of trying to outwit Voldemort, Harry had no interest in repeating his poor performance regarding homework. While he was sure he wouldn't reach Hermione levels of dedication - he was thinking more specifically of third year with the Time Turner - he had no intention of slacking this time.

 _I am_ not _going to take Divination this time. The only time it actually came in handy was when I overheard her prophecy during my final of third year_ , he thought. If Hagrid was still teaching Care of Magical Creatures, he will consider taking that. Even if the quality of that class tended to wane and wax, he would always support his friend.

"Cloud, I don't want to take Divination this time around."

"That's probably for the better," the cat replied from where he lie on the floor.

"It didn't seem to do me any good. I wish I had known a bit more about the wizarding world and what I would need to challenge Voldemort reasonably. I didn't feel prepared."

Cloud shifted and said, "Honestly, Harry, I'm not sure you could have done much better. Defense Against the Dark Arts was easily your best class and you did an excellent job of self-training. That said, a class like Arithmancy or Ancient Runes might have come in handy. Arithmancy gives you the tools you need to invent spells and Ancient Runes is a way to create structured spells that last for a long time. For instance, the shields protecting the students and hiding Hogwarts from the muggle world are powered entirely by Ancient Ruins that run along the planet's magnetic ley lines."

"I wish I had known this! I feel like I never knew anything. I suppose I could have consulted an adult about this stuff, but I didn't care at the time."

Cloud sighed again. "We keep stumbling across my mistakes that I made in regards to you."

"What are you talking about? It's my fault. I could have asked an older student or Professor McGonagall."

"Harry, you were a child! How could you be expected to foresee the consequences of not choosing more in depth classes? As someone who was raised in the muggle world, who doesn't have a clear understanding of what they are, how could you be expected to pick intelligently? Harry, I don't believe that I ever disclosed this to you and I will understand if you are mad, but every magical student is required a magical guardian. I am the magical guardian for _all_ muggleborn students, including you. Muggleborn students rarely need my input, however, because they do have their parents to fall back on, but you had hardly anyone to fall back onto. I should have made it clear to you that I was your magical guardian and that you would be able to come to me about anything, _especially_ about your classes. It seems I play my cards entirely too close to my chest."

"I don't understand. Why? Why did you keep this from me? This isn't unimportant information!" The Dumbledore from his previous time was continually falling in his eyes. He seemed like a compassionate soul, who constantly knew the pulse of Hogwarts, and governed it with minimal input, but it seemed more had escaped them than Harry would have ever thought.

"I think...no, I believe it was because as a student at Hogwarts, I was highly independent and prized my own ability to learn and discern. I took a hands-off approach with students. I always comforted myself with the thought that if you needed anything, you wouldn't hesitate to ask, but where I thought I saw independence in you, it seems that it was more that you simply felt you were alone in the world. I will do better by you this time. I promise."

It was in sixth year when Harry really felt like Dumbledore had his back and even trusted him with highly sensitive information. Granted, he learned down the road that he was being manipulated to destroy Voldemort because he would have to die himself, but after so many years of near death experiences, he finally felt like he was trusted as an accomplished wizard. And now Dumbledore - or Cloud - was his closest confidant. Cloud was, for the first time, getting a close up of his home life, before he even knew magic and he would be there with him now, possibly, for the rest of his life. Despite his resentment to Dumbledore's earlier actions, the new version of Dumbledore was now making up for his previous mistakes in spades.

Cloud was instrumental in helping him expand as a wizard, even before he had gotten his wand. He had managed to create a ball of light with _Lumos_ , unlock his cupboard door with _Alohomora_ , and repair his glasses held together by tape with _Reparo._ There were times when the dragon flamed out, but it was getting easier and easier to reach into his magical well of energy and keep spells going for longer. Harry was excited to see how far along he would be by the time he took the train to Hogwarts.

Another week passed before Harry got a reply for his letter:

 _Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _I will arrive at 7 am sharp to personally escort you to the Muggleborn Integration Tour. Please be ready._

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

When Harry showed Cloud the note, the cat a wry look on his face. "This does not surprise me in the least. Expect some fireworks from McGonagall. I only wish I could be there."

"We could sneak you into the house that day."

"I think not. I lack the magical prowess I once had and I would rather not become a focal point for the Dursley's anger."

Harry grimaced. "Yes, I was afraid of that, but I won't allow you to just stay in the shed. How about I act like I purchased you from Diagon Alley after the tour. I mean, Hedwig was able to stay in the house with me, so you should too."

"Very well, but until then I would prefer to stay out here. Now, let's practice the flame spell _Lacarnum Inflamorae_."

Compared to the last time he lived this month, this timeline was mundane. He could appreciate that he was no longer kept in suspense about his future, but the waiting was frustrating. He was grateful now to have Cloud to fall back onto to pass the time, but he didn't seem to understand the concept of hobbies and only seemed to want to teach him. They had done a fair bit of talking, but aside from him admitting his faults, they skirted around the touchier subjects, namely Ginny Weasley and Dumbledore's family.

On the 1st of August, Harry was picking at his breakfast. He had not consulted even Aunt Petunia about his acceptance to Hogwarts and could only imagine the trouble he was going to be in when McGonagall shows up on their doorstep that day. He sincerely hoped that his trusted professor would dredge up every ounce of sternness she used on her students to prevent the Dursleys from taking any action against him.

Finally, the doorbell rang, and Harry was so tensed up he almost dropped his spoon when he jumped. Uncle Vernon gave him a peculiar look and went to answer the door. They preferred Harry, in his baggy pants and shirts, not answer the door so that they could keep up the otherwise pristine reputation they had built over the years.

"Good morning. Who are you?"

"Mr. Dursley I presume?" Harry's heart leapt at hearing the familiar Scottish brogue and he struggled to keep his smile from his face, as he continued eating his cereal.

"Yes, speaking."

"Oh good, you're here. This will be _much_ easier to do now. Back into your kitchen."

Harry glanced up to find Uncle Vernon's face purple and his fists clenched, but there was no mistaking the fear at the wand firmly pointed into his back.

"Have a seat," McGonagall said. It sounded polite enough, but her expression was unforgiving and her nostrils flared in a familiar manner that made even Harry want to quail. She was wearing a conservative muggle dress that looked similar to a nun's and it only enhanced her severe mood. "Petunia, dear, have a seat. You -" she set her stern gaze on Dudley - "may leave."

"I-I'm not finished eating," he replied in a trembling voice.

"Then stay," she barked.

Aunt Petunia was shaking and holding onto Vernon's arm for dear life. Vernon was baring his teeth as though he were ready to attack and, although she had taken her wand off him, his eyes still regarded it in her hand warily.

"Mr. Potter has informed me that you have _failed_ to inform him of his true heritage. You better have a good explanation."

Uncle Vernon settled his beady eyes on Harry. "What have you done, boy!?"

"I got a letter a while ago. I _knew_ you would take it from me, so I hid it from you. Glad I did or I might never have found out about this," Harry said with his arms crossed.

"You would have had no fear about that, Mr. Potter. We would have come for you, one way or another. Now, your reasoning for hiding the world of magic from Harry Potter."

"We swore when we took him in that we'd stomp out that nonsense! I won't have any of that freakishness in this house," Vernon roared. Petunia only continued holding onto his arm and whimpering in her fear.

"Harry Potter is a wizard, whether you like it or not, and he will be trained up in his talent. His parents were among the finest students to pass through the halls of Hogwarts."

"My parents were witch and wizard?" Harry asked, widening his eyes for effect.

Professor McGonagall looked at him sharply. "How much have they told you about your parents?"

"Only that they died in a car crash."

The old professor went absolutely livid and raised her wand again as though she were preparing to curse them into oblivion. "A car crash! How _dare_ you besmirch Lily and James Potter's memory! The nerve that Harry Potter would not know his own legend!"

"Legend?"

"Oh, Harry, I am so sorry to have to tell you this," McGonagall said, looking stricken. "It, however, is important that you know. You see, Harry, some time ago, there was a Dark Lord who was terrorizing our world. He built himself a following and began exerting power and murdering many a fine witch and wizard. Your parents are among those who stood against Lord Voldemort and fought him." She shuddered at saying the name. "I beg your pardon, but no one like saying his name. He is typically known as You Know Who. Anyway it seems, for your parents' defiance, You Know Who targeted them. He showed up at your house on Halloween and murdered your mother and father."

Even already knowing this caused tears to come to Harry's eyes and he struggled not to betray this emotion in front of the Dursleys.

"He...he tried to murder you too." Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Yes, I hate to tell you this, but he tried to kill you, but his spell backfired and hit him instead. It's not clear what happened that night, but you are the only person who has ever survived the killing curse. It's what makes you famous in our world."

"I'm famous," Harry whispered.

"Indeed. I know I have been looking forward to your return to our world, Mr. Potter. Now if you please, we must get going. We have to meet the other muggleborn students by 7:30."

Harry scrambled out of the kitchen chair and toward the door. However, before they left, McGonagall turned her wand back on the Dursleys who still cowered at their own kitchen table. "I have learned from the messaging system at Hogwarts that Harry Potter has been staying in a cupboard under the stairs. If his items are not moved to a new room by the time we return, I will pick the room myself and you will regret crossing me."

Just as Harry reached for the doorknob, Professor McGonagall said, "Hold a minute, Mr. Potter. It's safer if we leave right here. Hold onto my hand tight."

They disappeared with a comical 'pop.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:** A big thank you to everyone who favorited or added this to their alerts. I especially want to thank those who reviewed! Your feedback is much appreciated!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 **No Trigger Warnings**

 **Chapter 6**

 _Crack!_

Harry blinked and wavered on his feet after his first side-along apparition on this particular timeline. It was just as jarring now as it was the first time he did it. He remembered at the last second that he's not supposed to know about any of this and said, "Wow, what was that?!"

"It's called Apparition. I can go from one point to another in the blink of an eye. For longer distances you have to take other forms of travel, but it's not too much trouble to do that now," McGonagall said, as she led him out of the alleyway they appeared in.

He glanced around and discovered that they were just across the street from King's Cross. McGonagall swept along in front and he had to run to keep up with her pace as she walked. He looked like a child from a church school trying to keep out of trouble as he accompanied a severe nun.

They hurried down the stairs towards platforms 9 and 10. When Harry glanced over there he saw about half a dozen families loitering, looking a little awkward, like they expected they were apart of some elaborate hoax. Harry felt his heart soar as he caught sight of a certain bushy-haired girl who was standing shyly by her parents, looking at everyone through a curtain of her hair warily. This piqued Harry's curiosity since she'd been so excited and forthright when they first met, but he knew she hadn't really had friends before. Maybe she and her parents were still questioning how real this was? He'd try to crack open her shell before they parted ways today.

He saw a good chunk of other students he did not recognize, but he saw Justin Finch-Fletchley and Dean Thomas talking to another boy Harry didn't recognize. For the first time, he saw how small the number of muggleborns were in his class. _No wonder Malfoy can gloat about keeping the muggleborns out of Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic._ The blood status issue was a dividing issue co-opted by Voldemort and would need to be tackled in its own way. However, there was very little reason to muddle over it now since he was only a child.

Harry detached himself from the professor and moved into the thick of the crowd, smiling jovially. It felt good to see everyone happy and healthy, even if he wasn't necessarily true friends with most of them. He positioned himself near to where Hermione was standing with her parents and turned his attention forward as McGonagall cleared her throat.

The professor glanced around furtively and waved her wand. Harry shivered slightly at a light pressure that made him want to pop his ears. It was a spell Hermione had used to keep them all safe when they were on the run, to mask their sound.

"Your attention, please! Good morning. Thank you for coming to the Muggleborn Integration Tour of the Wizarding World. I am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. I shall be showing key sites in the Wizarding World, including the Platform 9 ¾ and Diagon Alley, which is where magical folk do the majority of their shopping. Now, I ask that you refrain asking me too many questions while we are out in the muggle world. I will be available to answer all of them once we reach Diagon Alley."

"This wall is the barrier between the muggle world and the magical. If you will watch me closely, I will demonstrate. It is best that you not feel fear."

It was interesting how regal and prominent Professor McGonagall could look while walking straight into a brick wall.

"Is she mad?" Mr. Granger spoke audibly enough for Harry to hear and he had to stifle a giggle.

Hermione had the same skeptical look on her face. Harry smiled at her and said, "It's alright. I trust her!" He then darted forward and ran at the barrier, whooping as he crossed it onto the platform. He had never seen it so empty, but he immediately reigned in his excitement upon seeing Professor McGonagall.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. I can appreciate that this is not an easy task for those who are unfamiliar with magic."

Harry felt the blood rush to his cheeks at the compliment, but as he turned around Dean Thomas and Justin Finch-Fletchley came sprinting through the barrier. Their eyes widened comically and they gasped in awe at the vast platform that seemed to materialize before their eyes. Their parents followed soon after and then Hermione materialized, though she had decided to stick closely with her parents. She seemed to relax though when she stepped through and gaped at her surroundings, her expression mirroring everyone else there.

"Very good! This is Platform 9 ¾ . It is where your student shall catch the train on the 1st of September. The train leaves at 11 sharp. I highly advise you arrive early. Now, if you'll follow me, I shall lead you to the Leaky Cauldron, where you'll be able to reach Diagon Alley. It's only a few blocks."

It was an odd bunch that left the station to venture out into the city. Since McGonagall had asked not to be questioned out in the muggle world, the parents kept to themselves and muttered to each other about what was going on, their doubts and fears. The kids all mingled and though Hermione seemed less shy now that it was clear the world of magic existed, she still hung back and watched the other kids chatter like monkeys.

Harry fell back to walk near her. "Hi, I'm Harry! Harry Potter. And you are?"

She seemed surprised that anyone would want to talk to her, but then she relaxed and replied, "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Pleased to meet you. So what do you think of all this?"

"It's really quite...exciting! My parents and I were beginning to think the weird things that happened around me were some sort of collective hallucination. It's been some time though since I displayed any sort of magic." Her smile fell a little then. "I wonder if I'll be any good at it."

"I'm sure you'll be brilliant! My mum and dad were witch and wizard, but I never found out until today. My aunt and uncle kept it from me because they were hoping I'd be normal."

"That's horrible!"

Harry merely shrugged it off. "I was so certain the Dursleys were playing an elaborate hoax on me when I got the letter. Even though I'm supposed to know about magic, I'm pleased Headmistress McGonagall was kind enough to include me in the Integration tour. I'll be learning the same stuff right along with you!"

Hermione still seemed uncertain and he almost regretted even mentioning the Dursleys, but she'd eventually find out about his horrible home life. They would certainly have gotten off on the wrong foot if he lied to her right out of the gate. He did his best to steer her away from pondering on his relatives. "So what crazy things did you do before you found out about magic? I turned one of my teacher's hair blue when she failed me on a test."

She giggled at that. "You really should study for those tests!"

"I did. I just didn't get it at the time. I'm alright now. So what about you?"

"Well, once a girl invited me to a sleepover. My parents wouldn't let me go, so I got mad and caused some pictures to fly off the wall. They grounded me for that, even though I didn't know what was going on."

Harry nodded sympathetically. "I got grounded for the things I didn't understand, too. Like once I was trying to escape some bullies and I jumped to hide behind some trash cans but I ended up on the roof. I'm still not sure what happened."

"I am really looking forward to learning how to control it. It's been so mysterious and now I get the chance to learn all about it. I hope they have a lot of books available."

"I'm sure they will, Hermione," Harry said, trying to conceal his laughter. He was afraid she'd think he was laughing at her, but he was just so pleased that she was like the friend he left behind. For some odd reason, he felt a pang in his heart at the thought of leaving the other Hermione behind. _I didn't leave her behind. We went back in time. She will never have to know about that future._

"Everyone, crowd around me," Professor McGonagall said.

The children moved in the closest and as Harry glanced around he saw the peeling letters of _The Leaky_ _Cauldron_. The parents had polite confusion written all over their faces.

"Now, you are about to enter our world. Those who have magic in their blood can see the building behind me and those who don't, cannot. Parents, I assure you that not everything will be invisible to you. Since your child is apart of our world, the courtesy of being able to access it is extended to you. Please, put each of these necklaces around your neck. They are charmed to allow you to see the same things we do."

Harry peered curiously at the necklaces. Hermione had never mentioned them to him before and he supposed there was never any need to. They seemed innocuous enough. Small metal objects hung at the end of a leather band and the shapes range from a stars, to moons, seashells, and even owls. Mr. Granger still looked like he was prepared to be had, but he slipped it on over his head and gasped as the building materialized before him.

"H-h-how?"

"Magic, of course," McGonagall replied. She received a wry smile in return but paid no attention to it. "The Leaky Cauldron houses the entrance to Diagon Alley. There are other ways of getting to the shopping district, but as muggles you will most likely use this one. Follow me."

They entered into the pub and while they got glances, Harry was pleased that he didn't get the same enthusiastic welcome as last time.

"Ah, Professor McGonagall,"Old Tom said, giving her a toothless grin. "That time a year already?"

"Indeed it is, Tom. These are the newest muggleborns who will be going to Hogwarts."

"Welcome to our world," Tom replied with a bow. The children tentatively waved at him.

"On we go," McGonagall said, not wasting another minute. Harry was certain he saw her cast a glance at him; he was grateful for the discretion.

Harry was determined not to stare too much, but he smiled at the bustling pub It had been a shadow of its former self once Voldemort had attacked the alley and taken over the ministry. Now, though, he was fairly certain he saw a vampire hiding in a corner, a couple of goblins seemed to be playing a raucous game of Gobstone, and various witches and wizards were conversing over self-stirring cups.

"Now, this is the entranceway to Diagon Alley," McGonagall replied in front of a familiar brick wall. "Students, pay attention, because your wand is the key to open this door and you will need it to continue to access the alley. "Three up, two across." She demonstrated at a rather awkward angle for all to see and the bricks began shuffling themselves to form an archway.

"Before you head off to the shops for your school supplies, you must open an account at the wizarding bank, Gringotts. We have a different currency from muggles, so you will need to exchange. Goblins run the bank. They are very knowledgeable on the ways of finance and you may ask them any questions regarding the exchange of currency."

McGonagall started down the street and, though it was crowded, the sea of people parted from her as if she was a goddess. Everyone who followed her tacitly kept her in their line of sight, but were all staring around at the various shops.

"Look, Hermione, Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore! I bet you can find your books in there," Harry said.

She could barely contain her excitement now, clapping her hands and practically skipping down the cobblestone walkway.

"Well, what do you think?" Hermione's mom said.

"I don't think it's a hoax," her dad replied as he gaped at all the various stores.

"Mum, dad, can I buy more books than are on our list? Please?"

"Of course you can, dear. I think we'll want to buy a few books anyway."

Harry grinned ear-to-ear as everything familiar he remembered before the war went about him as it all had before. Florean Fortescue was serving a family ice cream, Ollivander's looked shabby but whole, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry smile a little bit knowing that Malfoy had already been here and he wouldn't have to meet him in the Alley. At seeing Eeylop's Owl Emporium, Harry felt his heart leap. Hagrid had escorted him to Diagon Alley on his birthday. It was the day after, but he wondered if Hedwig was still there and he grinned at the prospect of getting his faithful owl back.

The marble white building of Gringotts towered over the group. Next to the quaint buildings of Diagon Alley, it looked like it had been displaced from Greece. The muggles couldn't keep from staring at the goblins as they passed; Hermione stopped to read the warning, but Harry walked right on past it. The odds were pretty good that he was going to have to be mad enough to try and rob from it again.

"This will take a varying amount of time for each of you. I suggest that we meet up at the archway to Diagon Alley by one in the afternoon."

After the rest of the families dispersed to see about opening accounts with the bank. Harry glanced around at the goblins with some trepidation. Hagrid had been carrying his vault key the last time.

"Professor?" Harry asked quietly. "I...I don't have any money and I'm certain my aunt and uncle won't pay for all of this."

"You need not worry about that, Mr. Potter. Your parents left you some money. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has been keeping your trust safe for you. I have your vault key right here." She led him up to an open counter and said, "Mr. Potter would like to access his vault."

It seemed even at Gringotts, Professor McGonagall's reputation preceded her because the goblin sat up straighter under her stern gaze.

"Does Mr. Potter have his key?"

She pulled the key out of a clutch. The goblin examined it carefully and then said, "Does Mr. Potter wish to see the rest of the Potter holdings?"

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise; this was his first time hearing about this. "No, sir, just the one vault for now," he replied

"Very well. Scratchnail, will show you the way," the goblin said, clapping his hands and showing them away with a sweeping direction. The marble hallways gave way to a dark passage and they climbed into the cart.

"Thank you for staying with me," Harry murmured to her.

"Of course, Mr. Potter. You're a student at Hogwarts; your welfare is our concern."

They took the long cart ride down. The first time thrilled Harry like a roller coaster ride, but by the second ride he'd just found it tedious. Now, though, he felt his heart pounding as he remembered his last descent into Gringotts, where they found the oldest vaults, and the blind dragon. He knew it was ridiculous, but he couldn't help but be afraid that Scratchnail would know his thoughts, but he just sat in the front like normal.

The goblin took the key and opened the vault to the sizeable pile of Galleons and columns of Sickles and Knuts. Harry gaped even now.

"Mr. Potter, do you know our currency?" McGonagall asked.

"No, but...it looks like gold, silver, and bronze, right?"

"Yes, it is, but we call the gold coins Galleons, the silver ones Sickles, and the bronze are Knuts. There are seventeen Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine knuts to a Sickle."

"How much do you think I'll need?

"I suppose that depends on what you need besides your supplies."

"I don't have anything to put all my stuff in."

"So you'll need a trunk."

"I also want some new clothes. I don't like these," Harry said, gesturing to the parachute he was wearing.

"I would say ten galleons, fifty sickles, and one hundred knuts should be enough. Your wand will be your most expensive item. It is intended that you will keep your wand for the rest of your life."

"Wow."

Typically, Harry did not spend all that much on school supplies past the first year, but he had quite a bit that he wanted to buy, including an extra nice trunk, so he grabbed a little extra for good measure.

Back through the tunnels on the cart, Harry was blinking in the daylight of Gringotts. He had glanced around the front hall of Gringotts and hadn't recognized any of the sets of parents he'd toured with. He was hoping that Hermione and her parents would already be out here, but it might look suspicious for him to hang around for her.

"Mr. Potter, do you need an escort around to the various shops."

"Oh no thanks, Professor. I can manage," Harry replied and headed down the steps. He might only be eleven, but he had always shunned an authority figure leading him around, even if he liked them. Madame Malkin's was first, so he headed over there, hoping that it would be the first stop for everybody.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Wow, the response to this fiction has been amazing so far! Thank you to everyone who has favorited, added this to their alerts, and most especially reviewed! I really appreciate it.

Have a Happy New Year!

 **No Trigger Warnings**

 **Chapter 7**

Just as Harry predicted, Hermione hopped up onto the stool next to him for her robe fitting.

"Hi, Hermione!"

"Hi, Harry," she said, with a smile.

"Isn't all of this amazing?"

"It really is. I am so excited to start learning magic. I want to learn everything about this world! I'm curious as to why the goblins control the wizard's wealth."

Harry shrugged. It really was a good question. He had a feeling it was because goblins were masters of finance, but muggles had financial people that were very smart. Did wizards simply not want to bother when there were perfectly good goblins available? "Did you take a cart to a vault? Wasn't it brilliant?"

"Yes, it was a lot of fun. My parents didn't appreciate it as much though," she replied with a giggle. "My dad's still shaking a little.

"Hey, do you mind if I tag along with you? I've never had a friend before."

She grinned at him. "Sure! I've never really had a friend before either."

Once they were fitted, the Grangers seemed thrilled that their daughter had already found a friend and readily included him in their shopping group. They went to the Apothecary to buy ingredients and Hermione and Harry went around to look at all of the gross stuff.

"I'm not really squeamish, but are we really expected to make potions with this stuff and drink it?" Hermione said, staring into a barrel of rat's eyeballs with a horrified look on her face.

"I guess so," Harry replied peering at the bat spleens. "I've never really thought about it like that. I might have some trouble drinking potions then."

"Let's try not to ever drink potions."

"Yes, let's."

They got what they hoped was a year's supply of ingredients and then their cauldrons. Hermione's parents decided that a trip to the trunk store was next, because the bags of both children were becoming too numerous to carry.

Hermione settled on a very simple trunk, but Harry, thinking back on his year in the woods, glanced around. There were simple trunks like his first, but there were other trunks that were like Moody's which opened to a different container depending on the key used. He didn't need anything too complicated, but it would be nice to hide some of his more private stuff, like his Invisibility cloak, presuming Dumbledore would give it to him for Christmas this year. He finally settled on a wheeled trunk with three keys, one key which opened up into a functioning wardrobe with hangers, a cavernous hole like Moody's case, and a few hidden compartments. It set him back quite a bit, but he felt it would be worth it in the end.

Next they bought their telescopes and then a pair of scales for weighing ingredients. Next, they decided to get their wands and then Harry suggested exploring Eeylops Owl Emporium.

"We have to save the bookstore for last," Mrs. Granger said. "Hermione would spend all day in there if she could."

"I would too," Harry replied.

They walked into Ollivanders and a hush fell on the group instantly in the dim quiet of the shop. Harry felt like his breath had been stolen from him. Since he had been practicing his wandless magic, he had become more in tune with his magical well and could sense magic a little easier. He remembered being unsettled by this place the first time, but now the store practically seemed to be buzzing with pent up magic.

"Good afternoon," a low voice called out from the dim shadows. Hermione actually jumped and gasped. "Oh, I apologize for startling you. I am Garrick Ollivander, the proprietor of this shop. My family makes all the wands available here." He looked around at them all before settling on Harry. _"Harry Potter, I knew I would see you soon. It seems like your mother was in here only yesterday purchasing her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, unicorn hair, and made of willow. Nice for charms work. Your father on the other hand preferred a mahogany wand, dragon heartstring, eleven inches long. Powerful. Good for Transfiguration."_

" _And that's where…" Ollivander brushed aside his hair to see the lightning scar. "I'm afraid that I sold the wand that did that. Powerful wand. Yew, thirteen inches, phoenix feather. Powerful wand and in the wrong hands. If I had known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"_

He finally moved onto Hermione and Harry couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Why hello there, young miss. And you are?"

"Hermione Granger," she said quietly as she hesitantly held out her hand.

"It is lovely to meet you. And you are?" Ollivander said, moving onto her parents. They also seemed unnerved, but they gave their names and shook hands.

"Let's start with you first, Ms. Granger. I have a feeling you'll be easier than our friend Mr. Potter over there. Now, hold out your wand-arm."

He went on to explain the basics of the wands he made, keeping up a rambling narrative as the tape measurement eventually started measuring her itself. He pulled down a wand and headed over, "Holly and unicorn hair, 8 ½ long. Give it a swish."

She waved it and he snatched it away. "No, no, not quite right. Redwood and phoenix feather, 11 inches. Very powerful wand."

Again, though, she produced nothing and Ollivander took it away and then came back. "Birch and unicorn hair, 9 ¾ inches. Very sturdy. Go on, try it."

Still nothing and he took it away. "How about this one? Vine and dragon heartstring, 10 ¾ inches. Nice and supple."

She grinned as she took it and waved it enthusiastically, producing a shower of blue and green sparks.

"Bravo! Well done," Ollivander cried as though she had just produced the most astounding magic on Earth. Her parents gasped and cried as well, clapping enthusiastically. "Now, for your wand, Mr. Potter." He was put to the tape measurement as Mr. Ollivander began collecting wands.

Just as before, it felt like they were going through half the store as he was handed wand after wand, swishing them experimentally before they were snatched from his hand. Harry was becoming impatient and had to restrain himself from asking for his holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches.

Finally, after another ten minutes of swishing wands, Ollivander came around to his wand. Harry almost sighed as it was placed in his hand, feeling the familiar warmth. It felt like a long lost friend rejoining him again. He slashed with the wand and it spewed the red and gold sparks. Everyone in the shop cheered once more and then Ollivander pulled out two boxes and began packing their wands.

"Curious...curious, curious, curious…"

"I'm sorry, but what is it?" Harry asked.

 _Mr. Ollivander gave him a piercing look and said, "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single one. It just so happens that the phoenix who gave me the wand in your feather gave me another feather. Just one other. It's curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand, for it's brother...it's brother gave you that scar."_

Even already knowing that the words were chilling. Before his seventh year, he had never told Hermione or Ron the circumstances surrounding his wand and it was a little unsettling that not only did Hermione hear this now, but so did her parents. She gasped in horror and looked up at her parents, who looked scared themselves.

"Thank you," Harry muttered as he took his package.

Once they left, he said, "I'm sorry that took so long."

"That's okay, Harry. Finding the right wand is important," she said.

"So can we still go to the Owl Emporium?"

"Of course," Mrs. Granger said. They seem subdued.

Harry felt his good cheer return as he wandered among the owl cages. There were Short-eared, Tawny, tiny little Screeches, Barn, Great Horned, Boreal, Eagle, Barred, Saw-Whet, Spotted and Great Gray, but he could not see any Snowy owls. His heart began pounding as he searched and searched. Where was Hedwig? Did someone buy her between now and the day before? He felt his throat start to close up and tried to push that aside.

 _What am I even thinking about? I'm only allowed one animal; I can't leave Cloud behind. It was stupid to come in here expecting to buy an owl._ Harry thought, but it didn't cheer him. Hedwig had been one of his first friends upon entering the magical world and it was the only thing at the Dursleys that didn't flinch upon seeing him. It now seemed Cloud was that thing.

"Aren't they all lovely?" Hermione said. "Mum, dad, can I get an owl for my birthday?" She gave them her biggest eyes.

The Granger's looked at each other uneasily.

"Darling, you wanted extra books from the magical world for your birthday. We agreed, remember?"

Hermione was torn. "But how will I write to you?"

"Let's ask Professor McGonagall about that," Mr. Granger said.

"Okay," Hermione replied. "What about you, Harry? Are you getting an owl."

"An owl would be great, but…I - I already have a cat. I'm going to take him. We should probably get to the bookstore; I know I want more than my school books. "

They sensed his mood and moved on without comment. Hermione was looking at him with sympathy, but the moment they stepped into the bookstore, her attention was immediately diverted and she squealed.

"Now hold on there, missy, we're going to get your school books first and _then_ you can look around," Mr. Granger said.

She could barely contain herself as she went to the front display with all of the school books. She didn't have the list in her hand, but she didn't hesitate as she grabbed books. Harry hadn't memorized his school list, but he knew for a fact that _Standard Book of Spells 4-5_ was certainly not on the list nor was _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. Harry just picked his school books, but once he'd put them on his trunk, he started circulating the store. While he knew Hermione was going to practically swallow _Hogwarts: A History_ , he went ahead and picked it up. It wouldn't hurt to know more about Hogwarts. He smirked as he found the book Hagrid wouldn't let him buy and grabbed it. Maybe he couldn't use it on Dudley, but he could certainly use it on Voldemort and the Death Eaters. He also grabbed _Dark Magic: A Compendium of Defense Spells_ , _Purebloods and Muggleborns: A Society of Symbiance and Strife,_ and to be less serious _Fire and Flight: A Book About Dragons_.

When he moved to check out, Hermione was still wandering around the shop, pulling books down from the shelves here and there. Her parents would occasionally make some comment, which caused her face to crumble, and she'd reluctantly put a book back. By the time Harry got done buying his books, Hermione was in line with no less than twenty.

"Your mom said you're getting these books for your birthday. When is it?"

"September 19th. I'll be twelve."

"Wow, I'm almost a whole year younger than you. My birthday was yesterday actually."

"Happy birthday, Harry!"

"Thanks."

"Are you both ready to go? It's almost fifteen till one. We should probably head to the beginning of the alley."

Harry wished he could make his trunk feather light as he pulled it up the alley. His books felt like they added a metric ton and even with wheels he strained. Mr. Granger offered to help, but he waved it off. He'd need to haul this home, so he might as well get used to it.

Professor McGonagall was already waiting. She was like a rock in a wild sea, as people moved around her. They were the first to return and she inquired about their shopping and smiled at their enthusiasm, particularly Hermione's when she described the extra books she bought.

While they waited, Hermione sidled up to Harry in a rather shy manner and she said, "Harry, I hope you don't find me too nosy, but I wanted to ask….about what Mr. Ollivander said to you. He spoke to you like he knew you and he mentioned…" She couldn't seem to find the right words.

"It's alright, Hermione. Professor McGonagall told me this morning that I'm apparently famous in the wizarding world. My parents were murdered by a dark wizard called Voldemort. Most people in the world refer to him as You-Know-Who, because they're afraid to use his name, so you should probably not say it. Anyway, she said that no one has ever survived the killing curse, except for me. I survived the killing curse and apparently that destroyed Voldemort. He hasn't been seen since."

Hermione paled at his explanation and she said, "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's alright. You should know now that you're in the wizarding world, since I have a feeling everyone else knows.

She stepped away from and began a whispered conversation with her parents, no doubt telling them what she had found out. He did his best to ignore them. He didn't need nor want their pity.

Once everyone had found the spot, McGonagall said, "Now, this is not yet the end of the tour. We have one more place to go: the Companion Sanctuary."

Harry raised his eyebrows and thought back to his letter. It mentioned companions, but it hadn't really described them. It looked like he was finally getting some questions answered.

"In our world, there are a rare few who manage to find their animal companions. There is little that we know of companions, but this is what we do know: animal companions can be any of the known species on Earth, except for most magical ones. All animal companions have a certain magical signature that differentiates them from regular animals. You can communicate with your animal companions through telepathy."

Harry felt his heart racing. _Animals that can talk to you?_ He wished desperately to run back and buy a book about these companions.

"Some things are less known about animal companions and are highly speculative. It is thought, however, that every animal companion has the same magical signature as their witch or wizard counterpart. Companions do, in fact, augment a witch or wizard's power and most of the documented pairs go onto to do extraordinary feats of magic. Now, because of the benefits to witches and wizards, the Ministry of Magic has a sanctuary of animals with the known magical signature of a companion and it is required, at the age of eleven, for all children to visit the Sanctuary to see if they can find their companion. After this, it is not required but highly recommended to make visits every year to see if you can find your companion. The Sanctuary is added to and the animals are cycled through between wizarding governments. Please follow me, and I shall show you the Ministry of Magic and the Companion Sanctuary."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Welcome, welcome again to this story! Thank you everyone for adding this to their alerts and their favorites. Already 100 people have added this to their alerts, which so many people for such a short period of time! Thank you, especially, for your reviews!

Enjoy this installment!

 **No Trigger Warning**

 **Chapter 8**

Before heading off to the ministry, they stopped in the Leaky Cauldron for a meal. Tom gave them one of their more elegant private rooms. He gave Harry a secretive wink before he left, which gave him the impression that Tom offered it more for him than any other reason.

The children chattered excitedly amongst each other like a group of monkeys. The parents spoke with each other as well, but mostly they peppered Professor McGonagall with questions. Harry knew she could be an amicable person, but he was surprised at her seemingly endless amount of patience.

He got to know the muggleborn students a little better than from his previous timeline. Justin Finch-Fletchley was a Star Wars fan and liked to collect the action figurines. A girl named Erin Green with curly red hair liked to do gymnastics and had actually been an aspiring Olympian before she got her letter. She hoped that she could continue with her workouts, but was really excited to be a witch and the subject she was looking most forward to was Charms. Another boy by the name of Sean Price had an obsession with dinosaurs and now that he knew dragons existed, his new obsession would be them. The last girl, Julia Brooks Carpenter really enjoyed fashion and makeup, reminding Harry a lot of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Hermione, of course, talked all their ears off about the books and classes before her parents interjected to reel her in.

When it came time for Harry to talk, he casually skirted around his home life and didn't even bother mentioning his fame. He talked about Cloud a little, since he was going to come to Hogwarts with him, but mostly talked about how excited he was to start classes and get on a broom. That started McGonagall on Quidditch and she was happy to explain the rules, the Hogwarts houses, and how she longed for her house of Gryffindor to win the cup after nearly ten years of Slytherin house winning it.

Once the dishes were cleared away, they began getting ready to go to the Ministry. People were coming in and out of the lavatory. For the first time, Harry felt a little alone and awkward as he stood there waiting. As a waitress was hovering the dishes out old Tom came up to him and said, "I hope everything was satisfactory, Mr. Potter."

"Oh, yes, it was a nice meal. Thank you," he replied.

"I remember the first time I saw you you were with Hagrid. I must admit, I don't think I've ever seen him here."

Harry felt a shiver of fear run down his spine and he turned around to old Tom who still had the pleasant smile on his face as if all he was asking about was the weather. "You know?'

"Yes, I do. I recommend coming by another time, if you'd like a clearer explanation. You should bring Dumbledore too. I'm sure he'd like to know what's going on. Have a good day, Mr. Potter."

Harry couldn't help but stare as old Tom left and he tried to comprehend the whirlwind going on in his head. He did his best to shove it aside, especially when McGonagall announced they were ready to go.

She led them to a fireplace and Harry had to contain his groan. He was not particularly fond of the floo, but he had a feeling the muggle parents would be less than thrilled to go through the toilets and it would undoubtedly take too long to have people go through the telephone booth.

"Now, we shall travel by fireplace to the Ministry. This is floo powder. Toss a handful in the fire, step in, and say 'Ministry of Magic.' Try to speak clearly or you might end up at the wrong gate. Also, it's a rough landing. Who wants to go first?"

"I will," Harry said, trying to smile, but he was nervous. He remembered his first trip through the floo and ending up in Knockturn Alley. He tossed the powder into the fire and once it roared green he stepped in and yelled, "Ministry of Magic!"

He pinched his face and wished he'd thought to take his glasses off. He'd have to remember that for his next time through the floo. Finally after a whirl of color and a brief glimpse at dozens of fireplaces, he stopped spinning and just managed to catch himself before he broke his glasses _again_. He hurried to step out of the way and started swatting at all the soot on his clothes. He hoped McGonagall would use a cleaning spell for him because if he entered Privet Drive #2 like that, no one would be able to find his body afterwards.

He was a little surprised when Hermione came stumbling in after him, coughing up a storm and hitting the ground as she tried to brush the soot out of her eyes and hair.

"My hair! It'll take forever to get this soot out," she cried.

"Don't worry. I'm sure McGonagall has a spell she can use to clean us," Harry replied, pulling her out of the way before someone else showed up. Right on time Mr. Granger popped out.

"That has got to be one of the worst ways to travel."

 _Way until you see the Knight Bus,_ Harry thought, but he kind of doubted the Grangers would ever get that chance.

While they waited for everyone else to show up, Harry and Hermione stared around at the Ministry in awe. Witches and wizards were coming and going, popping out of fireplaces, walking in and out of Victorian style lifts to their own schedules. A crier from the Daily Prophet was touting the latest Ministry blunder. There were other witches and wizards lined along the walls with clipboards; the little he caught from them they sounded like interests groups.

When McGonagall finally stepped through as the last one, she instantly took her wand out and swept them all clean with a simple, " _Scourgify._ " The smeared ashes disappeared from their faces and their clothes became pristine.

"Ooooh, that is a handy spell," Mrs. Granger said. "Hermione, I already can't wait for you to help with the laundry."

"Yes, mum."

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. We have a wide array of departments that aid primarily in concealing our presence from muggles."

One of the parents raised their hand and McGonagall nodded at them to continue: "Why do you hide yourselves?"

"Good question. It mostly comes down to the witch hunts of 1600s. While it was rare for a witch or wizard to actually be caught and killed, it was still a dangerous time and we ultimately decided it would be safer to go into hiding. Also, if muggles knew witches and wizards existed, they'd be clamoring for magical solutions to their problems all the time. We can't solve everything."

"Hmm...that makes sense," Mrs. Granger said. They walked to one of the lifts that was too small to fit everyone, but McGonagall just gestured and it seemed as they streamed onto the lift it adjusted and got bigger and bigger. Everyone just seemed to stare around them.

"I know it's magic, but this is crazy," Mr. Granger muttered. Hermione seemed to be struggling herself and had a pained look on her face.

"The Sanctuary, please," McGonagall said.

"Yes, professor," the worker said, looking young and nervous.

"Does everyone know you here?"

"I taught almost everyone here," she replied dryly.

"How big _is_ the wizarding world?" Justin's father asked.

"Compared to you muggles, our society is quite small. We number about ten thousand here on the British Isles."

"That's it?"

"Indeed. The most populous place for witches and wizards is in China, with about a million or so. The United States isn't too far behind it either."

"Wow," Hermione whispered. She looked over to Harry; "That's not very big at all. I suppose there are other wizarding schools out there too. Wouldn't it be fun to do a study abroad?"

"A study abroad? I wouldn't mind exploring, but I think I'd want to stay and learn at Hogwarts."

"I'm afraid a study abroad would be out of the question for you, Mr. Potter. It is important that you stay at Hogwarts."

Harry grimaced, but he nodded. He had no intention of crossing any oceans until Voldemort was no longer a threat. There's no telling how many people he'd kill just to get to him if Harry made any notion of escaping. _Not that I need to escape,_ he though. _I just need to find his Horcruxes and destroy them again._ Would he be able to break into Gringotts and break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault again? The last time he'd been at the edge of a precipice and one wrong move could have landed him in Azkaban or prematurely in front of Voldemort to die, along with Hermione and Ron. With any luck he'll be better prepared magically this time around and won't have to rely so heavily on Hermione.

The Victorian door opened on its own and a cheerful female voice announced, "Companion Sanctuary." They piled out of the elevator and went through a simple door with wrought iron elegantly styled across it. A young man with black hair in a style that reminded Harry of Elvis was sitting behind a desk with what looked like a planner open before him, but what grabbed most people's attention was the lemur sitting on his shoulder. There was a bowl of grapes on the desk and it was picking through them and eating jovially.

At their entrance, the man looked up and smiled warmly. "Professor! Glad to see you again! The students still giving you trouble as usual?"

"Of course they are. They wouldn't be students otherwise," she replied.

He grinned and got up, the lemur only shifting with the change in position. "These are your new students? Welcome, to the Companion Sanctuary! I am Alex Cross and I will be your guide today. And this is Charlie, he is my animal companion. I actually found him when I was out hunting companions."

"Hunting companions?"

"Yes, we have a team that runs the daily operation here at the Sanctuary and there's another team that hunts companions. Our job is to find animals with a rather peculiar magical signature and bring them to the Sanctuary to meet their potential mate. We call them mates, because those of us who have found our companions liken it to having found a part of your soul."

"Soul mates," Harry blurted out without thinking about it, then snapped his mouth shut at a stern look from the Professor.

"Yes, exactly like that."

"What do these companions do?" Dean Thomas asked.

"Primarily they augment a witch or wizard's power. Before I found Charlie, I was an alright wizard. Nothing too extraordinary, but once I found Charlie, my spells became more powerful and I was able to dip fully into my magical well and my endurance improved. When I created rune squares, I could barely keep my runic objects charged for more than a month; with Charlie, I don't have to charge any of them for three months. It really has improved dramatically."

"What's a magical well?" Hermione asked, after raising her hand and he nodded at her.

"Professor McGonagall might honestly be able to explain this better than me, but every witch and wizard is born with a well of magical energy. If you use some of your magical energy, it replenishes over time with food, water, and rest, but you can never draw more energy than your well has. How much magical energy in your well partially determines how strong of a witch or wizard you'll be. That said, you cannot access much of your well without discipline, practice, and training, which is what Hogwarts will provide you. Study hard and the more magical energy you'll be able to access as you grow."

"I appreciate you promoting study," McGonagall said, at all the eager looks on the children's faces.

"Would I be able to do anything else with you here?"

"Hmmph. It seems you're just as cheeky now as you were then."

He chuckled. "Well, shall I take you all back to see if you can connect with any of the companions?"

The children all cheered and they whispered excitedly as they followed Alex through the double doors. It was very much like a muggle zoo, but the habitats were fairly small, but seemed more authentic as Harry peered around in surprise. Most of the animals looked like they belonged in a zoo more than at people's sides. He saw a fox, an otter, a mountain lion, a wolverine, even a stag and a jaguar.

"Oh, the poor animals. They look so sad here," Hermione said next to Harry, frowning around her. He had to agree. There wasn't really a lot of open space for most of these animals to roam around in. Hermione raised her voice, "These animals just stay here waiting for their soulmates to show up?"

"Yes. Don't worry, the habitats are much bigger than they look. You know how the elevator expanded as more of you walked in? The same concept has been applied to the habitats. They have limits, but they are quite expansive and for the predatory animals, we release live prey in their environment at variable times to keep them occupied," Alex said.

"How do you know if you've found your companion?"

"This will seem odd, but you can start to hear a voice in your head. It grows stronger or fades the closer or farther you get. If you're well-studied, some witches and wizards even described sensing the magical signature of the animal. You have to make physical contact to complete the connection."

"You have to touch a mountain lion?" Erin Green cried out in alarm.

"If it's your soulmate, it won't attack you. It's looking for you as much as you are for them."

"Where do witches and wizards keep their companions? I would think it'd be pretty hard to hide a mountain lion or a toucan," Mr. Granger said as they passed the colorful bird.

"Once these animals are your companions they don't need to hide, at least not in the magical world. If a muggleborn student here were to find their companion and they were something difficult to conceal, you would not be able to take it home with you until you have found a way to permanently move to the magical world," Alex replied with a grim expression on his face. "It's harsh, because once you've bonded it is very difficult to stay apart for long, but it's necessary for the safety of you and your companion."

"Mr. Cross," Hermione spoke up again, "Most of these animals aren't ones that live very long lives. It doesn't seem like you'd be able to keep your companion for the rest of your life." She looked very concerned.

"That's part of the bonding; your companion gets an extended life to match yours. What you brought up is something of a concern here. The animals don't get the lengthy lifespan _until_ they meet their match, so we have speculated that most companion animals die before they can meet their mate. It's why we think so few witches and wizards are able to meet their companions. Currently there are only twenty known registered pairs in Britain," he replied.

They whispered amongst themselves at the revelation. "That's really sad," Hermione mumbled to Harry and he nodded, unable to say anything as his mind raced.

Was Cloud his companion or was there another animal out there waiting for him? Having his companion for when Voldemort came back would certainly be useful, but with so few matched wizards and witches, the odds were not in his favor to find his. _I hope Voldemort doesn't have his companion_ , Harry thought, but it sounded like the sort of thing Voldemort would put his mind and soul into searching for. He was, after all, only ever interested in power.

"Can dragons be companions?" Sean Price piped up and everyone laughed.

"Not as far as we can tell. Dragons are magical creatures, but so far we haven't been able to find any dragons that have the same magical signature."

Sean deflated a little, but he still looked around the room eagerly.

The area was about the length of two football fields, if Harry had to guess and they walked through, with occasional commentary on some about how he caught them. Alex explained that the population here at the Sanctuary wasn't static and that every six months or so they rotated out a few of the animals to other nations that was also collecting companions to see if they could find compatible matches elsewhere. Sean asked if all people who found their companions became hunters for them, but as it turns out he was the only one on the team who had found their companion. Most people with companions worked in the Ministry of Magic and tended to be senior members of the Wizengamot, which was a kind of parliament, mostly because they were wealthy and could afford to travel to different countries and put a more concerted effort into finding their companion. When they reached the end, Alex and McGonagall seemed a little disappointed that no one had heard the distinct whisper of a companion, but as it was an expected outcome, they did not linger on it for long.

Before they parted, McGonagall asked, "Now, I presume that most of you left your - vehicles? - near King's Cross, am I correct?"

"Yes," most of the parents said, but Dean Thomas' mother mentioned taking the bus.

"Very well. There's a fireplace on Platform 9 ¾. If you take the floo and say the name of the platform, you should get there." All the parents grimaced at that, but she held out her bag, they formed a line, and started grabbing handfuls of floo to toss in the fireplace, and shout the name of their destination. After only a few minutes everyone, including Hermione and her parents, had gone through to the platform. Only Harry and Dean, his little sister, and his mother remained.

"Now, as for the rest of you, I highly suggest you take the Knight Bus. It will take you straight to your houses." They all looked eager at this until she said, "It's even worse than the Floo, but it's quick and precise enough."

Once they got onto the Knight Bus, Harry grabbed onto the safety bar by his seat, but almost fell out of it anyway when the bus started up. It first dropped off Dean Thomas and his family; they practically ran out of the bus to escape it.

When they finally reached #2 Privet Drive, Harry turned to McGonagall and said, "Thank you, professor, for letting me come on the tour. It was very informative."

"Of course, Mr. Potter. Now, I'm going to see that your aunt and uncle did what I ask. With any luck, they shouldn't trouble you too much. It's a shame you didn't get an owl, or I'd suggest sending me a note with it if they gave you any grief."

"I'll just use the postal service like last time."

McGonagall didn't seem to have much faith in that system, but she didn't say anything and was courteous enough to knock on the door. Petunia answered and her eyes instantly grew to the size of saucers and she swallowed nervously, not even bothering to hide her fear.

"Good afternoon, Petunia. Now, you need not fear me if you've done as I asked," McGonagall replied, walking through the door with Harry in tow. Uncle Vernon had apparently not returned from work yet. McGonagall tapped his trunk to make it feather light and they walked upstairs.

"F-first door on the right," Petuna squeaked.

As McGonagall reached it, it swung open slowly on its hinges as she peered inside. She peered in and huffed in disappointment then continued to walk down the hallway. She opened the next door on her left. It was the guest bedroom done up simply, but it was clean and it had a dresser at least, which Harry knew Dudley's second room didn't have.

"This should do nicely," McGonagall said as she hovered Harry's trunk to a spot against a wall. She gave her wand another wave and the rest of his meager belongings sailed from Dudley's second room to his new one. "Now, is this satisfactory to you?"

"Yes, it's great," he said, smiling at her.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Potter. I look forward to seeing you in my class at Hogwarts." She turned to Petunia before she left, "I will be checking in periodically to make sure you're treating your nephew properly."

Once she'd left, Petunia gave him one last fearful look and then headed down the hall. Harry smiled as he flopped on his first proper bed in a long time. His next step would be to move Cloud in and then they could start tackling his books.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Hello, everyone! An extra long chapter for you today. I hope you enjoy it and it should explain some of the questions you're asking. Keep reading for answers! =) Thank you, everyone, for your reviews and alerting yourself to this story! It means a lot to me!

 **Trigger Warning:** A small amount of violence/child abuse right at the end, beginning with the third to last paragraph.

 **Chapter 9**

Harry snuck Cloud into the house before Uncle Vernon got home, but he didn't dare speak to him while the Dursley's were awake. Harry had sat flinching at every door that slammed that evening, certain that his uncle was going to come in and beat the pulp out of him, but it seemed Professor McGonagall's threats had the desired effect. He didn't dare go down for dinner and waited until he could hear Uncle Vernon snoring. He snuck down and grabbed some left overs and a slice of turkey for Cloud.

Cold pork was less than ideal, but Harry didn't dare try to heat it with the microwave and instead just crept back upstairs to eat it. Cloud had been reading the Quidditch book for the afternoon, but the snap of his tail gave away his impatience to hear from Harry himself.

Once they had finally finished eating, Cloud said, "Anything to report? From what I've heard Petunia and Vernon are still human."

Harry snorted. "She didn't do anything to them, just threatened retribution if anything happened to me."

Cloud sighed. "Just as well; it would be unfortunate for Minerva to become a criminal in the muggle world. Anything interesting to share?"

In a low whisper, Harry started talking about the day, starting with meeting Hermione on Platform 9 3/4 , about how the goblin mentioned the Potter fortune, about how Hedwig hadn't been in the Emporium. He put extra emphasis on Old Tom mentioning Hagrid; Cloud's eyes grew wide and he dug his claws into the bedspread. Finally, he talked about the Companions and how witches and wizards sought them out to augment their power.

"Cloud, do you think...you're supposed to be my companion?"

"Oh, well, as to that I can't be sure. I want to learn more about these companions. They sound fascinating!"

"I was intending on going back to Diagon Alley soon anyway. I want to look into my accounts. I also need to go shopping for muggle clothes. I'm sick of Dudley's castoffs."

"That's a good idea. We need to see Tom."

"Agreed. Cloud, I'm worried about Hagrid. He said he hasn't seen Hagrid, but I remember when Hagrid first picked me up, Tom greeted him like an old friend and offered 'his usual.' Surely Hagrid would've been there since."

"Hmm...it's all very strange. I know Hagrid typically made monthly trips to Diagon Alley when he was gamekeeper. I'm sure he would've stopped by The Leaky Cauldron for a drink. He always did."

Harry drew his mouth into a line. What could have happened to Hagrid? Sure, he had a tendency to get into dangerous situations, but he was half-giant. He could usually handle himself.

Cloud seemed to be following his line of thought and he said, "Harry, I must admit, I am...rather alarmed at what these new developments could add up to."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I promised I wouldn't conceal anything from you again and just know that what I am about to tell you are suspicions and suspicions only. If the goblins mentioned your other accounts to you, that may be a hint that they are being mismanaged."

"Mismanaged? How?"

"Harry, I was your legal guardian in our timeline. Unless Sirius is free, which it seems clear that he's not, I highly doubt he's your guardian in this timeline. It's very likely still me, since you're placed here with your aunt and uncle. Now, I swear to you that I never touched your money. That is the Potter holdings and you were to gain access to them when you became of age at seventeen, however it was within my stewardship."

The young boy was now giving the cat a very piercing stare and it took all of Cloud's willpower not to shift uncomfortably. He had not done anything with Harry's money, merely held the key in trust until he was able to claim his trust vault at eleven. He at least had been smart enough not to hand the key over to Harry's aunt and uncle.

"This new development with Hagrid worries me. When Hagrid was framed for killing Myrtle Warren with his acromantula, I was the only one that stood in the way of Hagrid going to Azkaban. You have to understand, it was thought he murdered a student. That's a life sentence in Azkaban. I had enough power and influence at the time to argue on young Hagrid's behalf. What if, however, I didn't do that in this timeline?"

Harry's face drained. "He could still be in Azkaban?!" He said the last bit a little too loudly and clapped a hand to his mouth. They sat listening for a moment, Cloud had an ear cocked in the direction of the master bedroom and then nodded after a minute or so. "He could still be in Azkaban?! I never anticipated something like this!"

"How could you? I told you what I was told: that this was never how it was supposed to be and you were going to go back in time and correct things. I think we can safely say that this is _not_ our timeline. We don't have companions and Hagrid is missing. It does make you wonder, what else is different."

"What do we do?"

"We need to talk to Tom. We need to know what he knows."

"I suppose we could go back tomorrow. We'll have to take the Knight Bus."

Cloud grimaced, which looked funny on a cat; Harry had to stifle a laugh. "I would sooner walk to The Leaky Cauldron, but I know we don't have the time for that. Very well. While we're there, you should check into your accounts at Gringotts."

Harry readied himself for bed and he was grateful that Cloud pointedly turned his back to him as he dressed. He sighed as he slipped into bed and felt the comforting cushion of a mattress.

"I've been looking forward to a real bed," Cloud said from down at his feet as he arched his back and kneaded the bed spread, before circling a few times and lying down.

"So have I," Harry replied. It didn't take long for him to drift off to sleep.

The next morning Harry was very much ignored as he went through his routine and ate breakfast. He was careful to make sure he had money and then stepped out of the house with his wand in his back pocket, just in case. Cloud met him at the end of the walk on the brick wall. "Can I...can I get onto your shoulder?"

"Oh?"

"I can get up here, but I don't have the nerve to get down yet." Harry chuckled and bent at the waist to allow Cloud to accommodate himself on his shoulders. "Truly, I don't know how cats do it. I just imagine the ground rushing up into my face and it's enough to scare me."

"I've never thought about it."

"It just makes me wonder how Minerva does it."

"Oh right, does she explore the castle in cat form?"

"Yes, at least once a month. She described it to me as an itch. I'll have to be careful not to run into her." Cloud huffed. "Mind, the only staff members I had spied on in my interim as headmaster was Quirrell and Umbridge. I now wish I knew Minerva's habits as a cat; it would be easier to avoid her."

"Do you really think she'll recognize you?"

"Harry, we can't take that chance. There are _two_ of me in this timeline. You remember the rules regarding the Time Turner."

"Yes, I know, it's just...you're a cat. You're in a totally different form."

"A cat who can speak. We should be cautious."

Harry nodded and then raised his wand arm out.

 _BANG!_

He knew what to expect, but he still wavered and he felt Cloud dig his claws into his shoulder as the violently purple bus appeared.

Stan Shunpike began spouting off his spiel, when Harry cut him off. "I've been on the Knight Bus before. How much will it be to get the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Eleven sickles."

Harry looked around and decided on a bed near the back so that when the beds slid, they wouldn't slide far.

"Is that yer companion?"

"No, he's just my friend. He doesn't like being left behind."

Stan shrugged and called out to Ernie to start up again. When the bus leapt forward, Cloud dug his claws into the bed. Harry hadn't braced himself properly and his head smacked the back wall of the bus. He spent the rest of the trip cradling his head.

"The Leaky Cauldron," Stan shouted. Harry staggered off the bus and Cloud followed on his heels, looking up at Harry with concern.

"I'm alright. Why can't the Ministry commission a smooth bus like those limousines I took in my third year? They hopped through traffic easily enough."

Now that they were out in public, Cloud couldn't say anything and he just pleasantly stared until Harry finally felt collected enough to go in. As it was a Friday morning, the pub was quite empty at that hour. When Tom glanced over to see who it was, he gave him a pleasant toothless smile and nodded.

"Mr. Potter, I believe you'll be wanting a private room."

"Err...sure," Harry said. He followed Tom to a small parlor room with a tiny table meant for two. It would be romantic in another setting and Harry made a note to bring Ginny back here when he hopefully asked her out. Tom drew up a third chair and gestured at Cloud, who obediently hopped up into it.

"Come, sit. What would you like to eat?"

"I'm f - " But when Harry caught a sharp glance from Cloud he said, "Fish and chips, please."

"Very well," old Tom replied with a bow and went to the door. "Marie, would you care to get Mr. Potter fish and chips and a butter beer on the house. The cat deserves some cooked chicken and water. See to it that it's done?"

Marie's eyes widened at Harry's surname and she struggled to put a sentence together. "H-Harry Potter. Oh my stars, I never - " She tried to look past Tom but he effectively stood in front of the door. "O-of course, Tom, of course. Right away."

Once Tom turned from the door, he dropped the kindly old barkeep facade, not that he didn't appear kindly, but the naivete he put on effectively melted away and he seemed calculating. It put both Harry and Cloud on edge.

"I knew I would be seeing you soon, Mr. Potter. One of the benefits of owning the Leaky Cauldron is that it's difficult to _not_ see who comes and goes."

"You're the same barkeeper from my old timeline?"

"Naturally."

"How is that possible?"

"I have taken an interest in you, from the moment the prophecy was made by Sybil Trelawney." Cloud narrowed his eyes. Tom seemed to catch this and chuckled. "I know what you are, Headmaster. Don't hesitate to speak in front of me."

"How could you know about that?" Cloud asked in a calm tone, but his eyes were anything but.

"It is my job to know. I can't adequately inform you if I don't know something as simple as that."

"Why?"

"I am to be your guide. Think Virgil in _Dante's Inferno_ , but a little less hands on. I will be the one with information, whether you're interested in hearing more about this timeline or on the people that come through here. I will be forthcoming."

"What will your price be?" Cloud said, staring imperiously down his nose at the old barkeeper.

"I have no price."

"You're offering a rather valuable service for nothing."

"Voldemort coming back is bad for business. And bad for morale. If Voldemort comes back, it doesn't necessarily mean that we failed, but I would hate for you to get to the same point as last time."

"Why do you care what happens in our world?" Harry asked.

"I have my reasons."

Cloud narrowed his eyes and swished his tail around but didn't say anything else.

"That's not an answer."

"It's none of your business," Tom replied and his eyes became like hard like diamonds.

"Considering that you're using me in your plans, I'd say it is," Harry snapped.

"No. I don't owe you an explanation. Instead of focusing on me, why don't you focus on your situation? Haven't you been wondering why this world seems to align rather poorly with yours?"

Harry was fuming. It had rankled him to be manipulated by Dumbledore and here comes along yet _another_ person who was looking to use him for his own ends. He opened his mouth to continue arguing when Cloud said, "Don't bother, Harry, he won't tell you anything. Better to focus our energy on what we can learn." Harry glared at Cloud, but from the look in the cat's eyes, he wasn't about to just let it drop. He nodded and Cloud asked, "Since you seem to know so much about what's going on, why don't you tell us."

"Do either of you know about parallel universes?"

"Yes."

"No."

Harry and Cloud both looked at each other; the boy seemed shocked that he would know something that Dumbledore wouldn't.

"Yes, this is something Harry would've encountered more often than you, Dumbledore, since the wizarding world seems to care very little about science. By comparison, muggles are enthralled with science and science fiction is a growing medium."

"Science fiction? I know what fiction means, but you seem to be suggesting something other than fiction," Cloud said.

"Indeed. You see, muggle science fiction writers have speculated for sometime about the unknown universe and one of these concepts is the idea of parallel universes. A parallel universe is a universe that's almost exactly like yours, but with small or even large differences."

"Such as?" Cloud asked.

"Well, your friend Hagrid is a prime example. In your universe, you stood up for him and allowed him to stay on at Hogwarts and be an integral part of the resistance against Lord Voldemort. In this universe, however, Hagrid's missing. You appeared not to have stood up for him. Or perhaps he never existed? It's difficult to say; he's not a main player after all and I can only keep track of so many key details."

"What do you mean, might not have existed?" Harry asked, feeling the blood drain from his face.

"It's a miracle of timing that you're here, Harry. Give or take a few minutes and it would've been a different sperm meeting your mother's egg."

Harry blanched and Tom laughed at his expression. "You need not worry, Mr. Potter, there's a reason you were sent to _this_ universe. Your friend Hagrid is alive, as are your friends Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom. Some aspects of the universe are constant, but others are variables."

"Constants and variables?" Cloud asked.

"For instance, Mr. Potter, take out your wand. Notice anything different about it?"

Harry hadn't actually closely looked at his wand since buying it the day before and he pulled it out and stared at it. As he studied it, something niggled at the back of his head as he examined it; it didn't look quite right.

"It looks different, doesn't it?"

"The color...it's a bit lighter than my other wand."

"Now, you received the same wand, but the tree that it came from is a slightly lighter color. A variable, a small one though."

"That doesn't sound quite right," Cloud interjected. "Wandmaking is a finicky business. As Ollivander would tell you, no two woods are the same and no two phoenixes are the same. Even the slightest change in the wood, it's far more probable that Harry's original wand would _not_ choose him."

"But it did choose him, Dumbledore. Clearly, that was still the most compatible wand for him compared to all the others available."

"Hmm…" Cloud didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but he remained silent.

"So...with this parallel universe stuff, what can we expect? I'm assuming everything will be relatively the same?"

"I wouldn't assume that. Just think back to the first time you were introduced to magic and now? It's quite a bit different, isn't it?"

"I just...wanted to streamline it. Last time was annoying; it was smarter to do it my own way."

"I'm not implying that it wasn't smarter, but your actions cause ripples, Mr. Potter. I think you'll find that the harder you try to keep things the same as they were, the more likely the situation will slip out of your control. Remember that."

Harry clenched his jaw, but nodded. _This is going to be trickier than I thought,_ he mused, trying not to panic at all the things he had to worry about now.

"We'll manage, Harry. Try not to fret. We'll meet it as it comes," Cloud said to him.

Harry wanted to yell at him. How could a _cat_ stay so calm and collected? Cloud didn't even have a human body or a wand anymore and his only sign of frustration had been a little exasperation with Tom. All at once, things felt like they were piling up to collapse on his head. How was he going to be able to save everyone?

"He's right, Mr. Potter. Try not to worry. You're not alone in this. You have Professor Dumbledore," Tom said with a tight smile. "And you always have me."

Harry snorted. "You were given the opportunity to retry your luck; you've been set up in a brand new timeline. Why would I want you to fail?"

"Why would you want him to succeed?" Cloud asked, his whiskers twitching with his nose as though he were trying to sniff the answer out.

"We've been over this, Professor. That's not your concern."

"Fine then," Cloud said, "What about the Sorceror's Stone? In the other timeline, Hagrid picked it up when he had Harry. Did anyone pick it up this time?"

"Why you deigned to descend from your brick tower to get it yourself this time around. You also got it on July the 20th and since your visits are well-noted, Quirrell didn't even bother coming through here and just went on ahead to Hogwarts."

"Voldemort's probably already on the back of his head…" Harry said with a frown.

"Probably."

"Do I...do I have to do my first year the same all over again?"

"It's really a shame I didn't get my own body back. This would be much simpler," Cloud replied. Then he cocked his head at him and asked, "Why didn't I get my body back?"

Tom held his hands out in a shrug and said, "You'd been dead too long, frankly. We would've _preferred_ to give you your body back, but our hands were tied. This is the best we could do."

"We?"

The old barkeeper simply smiled pleasantly and didn't answer. Cloud exhaled deeply, which was the first sign of frustration Harry had really noticed in him. "Don't be so disappointed. You can transform into any non-magical animal you please."

Cloud just sat quietly.

Harry was so engrossed in the conversation that he actually jumped when Marie came through the door with their food. She was so star struck that she only noticed his scar and barely took her eyes off of it as she set the food down on the table. She looked like she wanted to say something, but Tom cut her off, "Thank you, Marie, that will be enough." Once she left he said, "She'll probably have told the whole bar by now that you're here."

Harry sighed. He hated being gawked at.

"You best get used to it again. Now, I've bothered you enough. Enjoy your meal, Mr. Potter, Professor." He bowed and walked out.

They ate quietly. Harry was too immersed in his thoughts to really taste the food and simply ate automatically. His mind was spinning with the new possibilities and his heart was pounding as everything felt like it was going to overwhelm him. He thought he understood what entailed going back in time, but he truly hadn't anticipated all these new things adding up. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.

"Take it one day at a time, Harry. We can make a plan, but we have to take things one step at a time. First, we need to get you trained up in your magic. The sooner you're capable with your wand, the faster we'll be able to do things like go Horcrux hunting."

"Cloud, how am I supposed to go Horcrux hunting with the trace on me?"

"We'll figure it out, Harry, I'm sure. We have time. Let's just focus on the here and the now. Now, we're here to check your accounts at Gringotts and to grab a book on companions, correct?"

"Yes," Harry said, swirling his food around on his plate.

"Then let's just focus on doing that for today."

As they imagined, the bar had practically been worked up into a fervor by the time he left his private parlor. Cloud was back on his shoulders, so he was slouched a little more than usual when people rushed to shake his hand. Harry tried to smile as he shook hand after hand, but before long he just wanted to be on his way. After a little while, Cloud hissed and swatted at the people from his shoulder, which caused everyone to recoil.

"Err...it was nice meeting you all, but I really need to get going. Bye!" He scampered off towards Diagon Alley. "Thanks," Harry said to Cloud once the brick wall closed behind him. Cloud merely purred in answer as they walked down the street.

They were able to dodge and weave through the busy Diagon Alley crowds. Harry's heart may have actually skipped a beat when he recognized Theodore Nott staring into the shop at the Nimbus Two Thousand broom. While he wasn't as bad as Malfoy, he had acted more like Malfoy's second-in-command than a lackey.

Once they stepped into Gringotts, Cloud whispered in his ear that he needed to ask for the Potter Account Manager and that as the sole living heir, no matter his age, he would have to be shown his holdings. "If the Dumbledore from this timeline is accessing your account, you need to put a stop to it instantly."

"What will happen if he approaches me about it?"

"He will probably attempt to manipulate you; try to get on your good side. No one who steals from a child is good."

"Cloud...we're talking about you."

"That is _not_ me," Cloud hissed back at him.

Harry jumped. The only time he'd heard Cloud so angry was at the end of the Triwizard Tournament when Moody was found to be an imposter. He calmed down as they approached the counter for a goblin and Harry asked for his account manager.

They were asked to wait on a stone bench. Harry tried to keep himself from swinging his legs childishly as they waited and finally a goblin in a set of black robes came out to him and bowed, "Mr. Potter, I am the Potter family account manager, Hookfin."

Harry stood up and decided to bow in kind. "Sir."

"Follow me, please." They walked through a door. Harry expected to see the limestone indicating the cave walls, but was instead met with more beautiful white marble. They walked for a few minutes before, Hookfin stopped and waved him into a room on the right. It was circular with the architecture style of the Parthenon, jammed with books, one row after the other until it disappeared well into the ceiling. Goblin workers were walking up and down ladders that ringed the walls and could move to and fro.

"The Potter accounts, the up-to-date ones," Hookfin said gruffly and the young goblin he ordered was off sliding here and there across the floor and up and down, until there were two thick books placed on a cart. Hookfin then wheeled the cart around and out the door. They went a few more doors down to an office door that opened into an exquisite office. The desk was goblin-sized made of solid oak, the books on the shelves were leafed in gold, and there appeared to be the pelt of a demiguise on the wall. At Hookfin's gesture, he took a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

"Now, Mr. Potter, have you seen your parents' will?"

"No, sir."

The goblin studied him closely and then nodded. "About a week after your parents died, their will was disclosed to a small audience: Remus Lupin, Bathilda Bagshot, and Albus Dumbledore. At the time, Headmaster Dumbledore claimed guardianship of you. Mr. Lupin was listed on the will to receive some effects, but was never listed as a guardian; however as a listee of the will he was given the opportunity to accept guardianship of you or to pass. He passed, citing Dumbledore as a better steward to you and your accounts. Bathilda Bagshot also waived her right to raise you. Sirius Black,listed in the will of your parents, was your godfather, however he was found guilty of treason and was imprisoned in Azkaban."

"Here is Headmaster Dumbledore's signature on the forms to accept stewardship of your accounts _and_ you," the goblin said, handing the document over. Harry and Cloud peered at it and sure enough, Dumbledore's excessively loopy signature could be seen at the end of the documents.

"Now, while I am not well-versed in the Dumbledore accounts, his status in wizarding society is a clue as to his own holdings. Your clothes do not look like those of someone who is well off," the goblin said.

"Oh, Dumbledore didn't give these to me. I've been living with my aunt and uncle for as long as I can remember," Harry replied, already starting to feel a dull rage build in his stomach once more. _Had Dumbledore broken the law to keep me with my aunt and uncle?_ He'd have to have a talk with Cloud later.

"I see," the goblin said. Harry knew from reaching his history book - certainly not from History of Magic - that goblins were particularly vengeful characters. Most wars between the magical world and goblins were a result of a wizards thinking themselves clever and crossing the wrong goblin. While Hookfin was not looking particularly vengeful, his frown seemed to get deeper.

"Headmaster Dumbledore has been withdrawing from your account on a monthly basis claiming living stipend for Harry Potter."

Harry's eyebrows raised. Cloud stood up from his perch on his shoulder and daintily walked over to the desk to peer curiously at the books splayed out in front of them. "Off my desk, you filthy rat!" Cloud jumped and nearly and nearly fell clean off but managed to catch himself and settled into the second chair in front of the desk, hissing at Hookfin.

Harry paid both of them little attention and examined the contents carefully. He wasn't particularly well-versed in spreadsheets, but since there was little other activity happening in the account, it was easy to see the count of a negative of five hundred coins, mostly bronze nuts and silver sickles.

"I haven't seen any of this money," Harry said and was frowning tersely. Maybe this Dumbledore wasn't malicious as much as he was stupid. Had the Dursleys been getting almost a thousand pounds from the Potter accounts every month that he stayed with them?

"As I suspected when I saw you here with Professor McGonagall yesterday. I assure you, Mr. Potter, we will instantly make inquiries into the fate of your coins. If there has been foul play, which I suspect there has been, you will be reimbursed in due course, most likely from the Dumbledore holdings."

"Thank you," Harry said. He hesitated a moment and said, "Is there anything else I can look at? I would like to see the status of the Potter holdings."

"Of course. It seems your parents were very prepared for the eventuality of their deaths. I have never seen an account so well organized," Hookfin said. Harry grimaced at the complete casualty to which the goblin spoke of his parents being murdered, but another particular trait with goblins is that they weren't ones for tact or sympathy.

"These are the current numbers in the Potter vault and in your trust," Hookfin said, pointing at a few numbers on the side of the page. It took all of Harry's efforts to not faint from shock. His trust vault alone had one thousand galleons, fifteen hundred sickles, and fifteen hundred knuts. "You've been living in the muggle world, have you not?"

"Yes," Harry replied, his mouth dry.

"It will be easier, then, to show you the numbers in muggle currency. Your trust vault has a value of ten thousand pounds. This is the amount of interest it has accumulated over the years. Now the main Potter vault has no less than one hundred thirty-two million pounds. Naturally, the rate of interest is quite substantial at this point. There are a number of business that the Potter family has invested in, both muggle and magical. Unfortunately, as you are not of age or emancipated, nothing can be done to adjust these at this time, however, I have not been idle and I have been watching the markets carefully. There are a few businesses I pulled your fortune from and others that I have invested in. When you reach maturity, you will be able to advise me on any businesses you're interested in."

"Now, you currently own three properties. It used to be four, but the ministry purchased the destroyed cottage your parents lived in to memorialize it. I made sure a fair price was brokered. Now, you currently have the main Potter mansion in east Norfolk, a beach property in Normandy, and an American property in the state of Masschuseates? I'm not sure on how to pronounce the name."

"America?" Harry asked, with looking at the profile of the house.

"Yes, as far as I know it's completely unfurnished and unoccupied. It currently does not have a single house elf. From what I understand, your great grandfather and great grandmother considered emigrating to the United States of America. They did live in it for twenty years, but never formalized their immigration and eventually had to come back to manage the Potter affairs, since they were still largely in England. I do believe your parents were considering moving to the Americas."

"They were?"

"Yes. Bad business with the wizarding war," Hookfin replied, and he drew his mouth into a firm line as though he were recalling the unpleasant memories. "I certainly was concerned for the welfare of my clients, but in the end they decided to stay."

"Thank you," Harry said and stood up from his chair. The goblin slammed the book shut and placed it back on the cart.

"It is good to see the Potter family is still strong. I look forward to your ascension, Mr. Potter. May the blood of your enemies flow."

Harry felt his mouth dry; he had never been taught proper goblin greetings. Cloud jumped onto his shoulder, startling Harry, but he heard a whisper in his ear, "May your axe be ever sharp."

"May your axe be ever sharp."

The goblin bowed once more and led him down the corridor back to the main hall of the bank. Harry was so overwhelmed and distracted by everything, that Cloud had to whisper in his ear twice about the book on companions. He didn't even notice Tom nod to him or the myriad other witches and wizards shriek in excitement. He only vaguely held onto a bar as the beds of the Knight Bus slipped and slid all over the place. He didn't even notice Uncle Vernon until it was too late. He barely caught the sight of a fist before it smashed into his eye, shattering his glasses, and causing his head to bang against the door.

His ears were ringing and he thought he could actually feel his brain sloshing around in his skull. There was a scream, a shout, and...was that a _roar_?

"Get up, Harry. Up the stairs!" Cloud was shouting at him. He saw a massive white paw settle next to his hand and felt something large and solid leveraging him up off the floor and he clung to it as they made their way to the stairs. There was more incoherent shouting from down below, but Harry eventually staggered his way up the stairs. Harry managed to get the door open and collapsed on the bed, the pain, the events, and information of the day washed over him and he sank into unconsciousness.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes:** Good day, everyone! Already ten chapters into this fiction and it's only going to get better! Thank you, everyone, for being so kind by reviewing, favoriting, and adding this fic to your alerts! It's very humbling to see so many interested in this fic. I hope I don't disappoint!

 **CometMoon** : You have some very good questions there. I recommend re-reading Chapter 8. Just remember that it is _very_ rare for witches and wizards to find their companion. As for Ginny having a companion, I suggest you keep reading to find out. =)

 **Chapter 10**

Harry drifted in an endless sea of confusion. His mind felt like it was scrambling to piece together what happened from pictures in his mind, but the instant one was formed it shattered and another took its place. Old Tom was talking and at the word 'universes' the image shattered and he could see a galaxy from the known pictures of space. His parents were laughing cheerfully and then screaming the next and blazing green light ripped across his vision. He cried out and swiped away at the image and that turned into Cloud reading _Curses and Countercurses_ by Vindictus Viridian. The images morphed again and he could see Hagrid curled up in a cell at Azkaban with Dementors keeping vigil at his door, Hermione was sobbing over Ron's body, and Ginny...but he saw her as she was alive, smiling and determined. That was his favorite part about her, her willingness to be undaunted even as the world went to hell around her.

"Come now, Harry, wake up," a gentle voice broke into his dreams and he could feel the vestiges of everything that had been clawing for attention drift to the bottom of his mind like sediment. He groaned as he felt his brow throb and something soft, like silk, brushed against his face. "Please, wake up."

He finally managed to peel his eyes open, but everything was blurry and shapeless around him, but Cloud himself was cast in sharp relief as he peered closely into his face. There was no mistaking that concern.

"Merlin's beard, it's good to see you're awake."

"What happened?" Harry asked groggily. He attempted to sit up once, but the combination of his head spinning and his vision still being blurry made him nauseous and he laid back down.

"Your uncle jumped you as you walked into the house. I barely managed to jump before you crashed into the door. I fought back your uncle."

"You? How?"

"You remember what Tom said? I have the ability to transform into any non-magical animal. The first thing that came to my mind was a lion."

"That was you who roared."

"Oh yes, it gave your uncle quite the shock. I clawed him in the chest. He shouldn't approach you again. How are you feeling?"

"Dizzy. I can't see. Do you have my glasses?"

"Yes, I do, but they're in terrible shape. I've been trying to repair them for you."

"You?"

"Yes, I was hoping since I had the ability to transform that I may have access to a dormant well of magic, but I was unable to produce so much as a spark. You'll have to repair them, but you need rest first."

"Right," Harry muttered, but he didn't feel steady enough to sit up again and soon drifted off once more into a restless sleep. This time he was recounting every single encounter with Voldemort, but the timeline was skewed and skipped around dramatically. Thankfully, he didn't see anyone die, that was little comfort when all he could see was a flat face, and slit eyes and nose.

The next time he woke up, there was a cool wetness on his forehead and he cracked his eyes open to see Aunt Petunia dabbing at his brow with a soaked rag. Her eyes were filmed with tears and she seemed to be in a constant state of fear. She squeaked when he moved and almost upset her bowl of something.

"Harry, listen, I know I've never been a good mother figure to you, but I have never wished you any harm."

He glared up at her. "You never protected me from it."

"You have to understand, Vernon wouldn't let me," she replied in a broken voice.

"Why are you with him?" Harry growled.

Her mouth trembled, but she simply kept her face towards the ground.

Harry sat up and was ready to berate her in his anger, when Cloud suddenly spoke up, "That's enough, Harry. Thank you, Petunia."

She got up and exited the room, leaving the bowl and the towel on his bedstand. Cloud, who was sitting at the end of the bed, watched her leave with neutral eyes and did not say anything until they could hear her steps in the living room.

"Your aunt has no more power than you do here. I fear for her safety...and yours. You can't stay here, Harry."

"It's just for another month. I'll manage."

"And then what? You can't come back here after your first year. While your uncle is afraid for you now, that won't last. He showed no restraint when he attacked you yesterday and he would have caused you even more serious harm if I hadn't been there, I'm sure of it. This situation is not tenable."

"I can manage! I've managed after all these years," Harry replied, reaching for the towel and holding it to his face once more.

"Tom said that this was a parallel universe. This isn't the _same_ Vernon you're used to. This one is different and it appears that he may be even more controlling and violent than he was before. Your aunt, herself, is in a dangerous situation. I can see that she means you no harm, and may even regret hurting her sister all those years ago, but she can't help you."

Harry was quiet as he contemplated this. It was true, Uncle Vernon had never actually hurt him in the other timeline. He certainly looked like he was, especially when he had been making a deal with Uncle Vernon for the permission slip to Hogsmeade. The threat of having his peaceful existence destroyed had been enough to keep him at arm's distance, but this Vernon? He hadn't seemed all that different, but once his magic powers came to light, Vernon couldn't seem to handle the revelation. Or maybe McGonagall threatening him had struck a nerve? Or maybe it was the lack of turning Dudley into a pig to really drive home the threat? Maybe Cloud turning into a lion and swiping him across the chest would be enough to knock Vernon down a peg or two.

"What do you expect me to do, Cloud?" Harry asked, the frustrating slipping into his voice.

"Write, Minerva. She'll help you in an instant. We know this."

"What good will that do?"

"Once she sees the bruise on your face, she'll bring in the wizarding authority and perhaps even the muggle. Your uncle could go to muggle prison."

"But what would that do for me? I'd just end up in an orphanage, wouldn't I? That wouldn't do me any good."

"Your aunt might not be in jail."

"Might? We can't afford a 'might' here. I can't afford to put Vernon in jail yet," Harry said quietly, casting a nervous eye on the door. "Do you think an orphanage will allow us to come and go as we please?" Harry glared at Cloud. "I have to last at least a month, Cloud. Just one month."

They didn't argue any further about it, but Harry could feel the waves of disapproval rolling off the cat. Harry insisted that they move onto something else, so Cloud brought up the book _Curses and Countercurses_. Since Harry hadn't really had the opportunity to read it, they cracked the book open and dove in.

Harry kept himself busy for the next four weeks, reading all of his text books (again), continuing to practice his wandless work, and practicing in Occlumency, properly this time. Uncle Vernon never checked in on him and for that he was thankful. They finally got around to reading the book on companions, but it hadn't really said anything that the companion hunter hadn't. It did, however, contain more information on actual famous pairs and it seemed that the majority of witches and wizards who found their companions did indeed go on to do great things. Quite a few seemed to be monster hunters, taking on beasts that no ordinary witch or wizard could take on alone. A few had even ended a dark lord's reign and they were considered heroes of their time.

A note from McGongall arrived a few days after the incident, which caused Harry to pale and he went through a few different sheets of parchment, before he decided that the note he wrote was in no way alarming and not written in panic. He assured her everything was okay and sent it along with the owl who apparently was under orders to take the note back and waited patiently.

Much like the first time he was going to Hogwarts, he kept a tiny scrap of paper with the days and checked each one off as he rose each morning. After about a week, Harry checked himself in the bathroom mirror and found the bruise had reduced to an acceptable color to go out in public with and headed to the downtown area to pick up clothes that weren't like parachutes for his scrawny body. He bought up a pair of mens-sized black loafers that had a little extra space for growth and a pair of sneakers, two pairs of jeans, one pair of corduroy slacks, and two pair of dress pants, one khaki and one dark blue. He also picked up some t-shirts, jumpers, and some button down dress shirts. He changed into his new clothes the minute he got home and instantly felt better and more comfortable in clothes that actually fit him.

Among the things that he and Cloud discussed at night was how he was going to approach certain students.

"I saw the Weasleys ten minutes before the train left last time."

"I think it highly unwise to wait for them on the platform and play dumb. You'll have plenty of opportunity to explore the train and find Ronald later."

"Yes, but we might not spend the carriage ride together. That's what made us fast friends last time."

"Tom said that this wasn't the same universe, but a different one. You cannot be sure the same circumstances will play out. Have a plan, but be prepared to play by ear."

"Neville became instrumental and a great friend the last couple of years. I'd really like to make a friend of him faster and build up his self-esteem faster. I think it would really help him."

"That's certainly not a bad idea. I spoke with Augusta Longbottom, Neville's grandmother, more than once about how she needed to stop trying to see her son in him. She gave him his wand for goodness sake; is it any wonder why he struggled in school? He needs his own wand. I think that if Neville was able to make a case for his own wand, his grandmother might bend. She wants him to stand up tall and not bending to her every whim would be a start."

"I think I can probably help him with that."

"Presuming he gets back into Gryffindor."

Harry frowned at Cloud. "You have doubts we'll all end up in the same house?"

"Remember, Harry, parallel universes. Constants and variables. Just think about how differently you're treated here compared to last time. This is _not_ the first time your uncle has laid a hand on you in this universe, I guarantee it. Think about how your friends' upbringings might be different. You could all get different houses."

"Except Malfoy."

"Yes, you're correct, Draco Malfoy will almost certainly get put into Slytherin, whether his father has the same power or not. It's difficult to imagine a universe where Lucious wasn't the master puppet," Cloud said with a dark look in his eyes. "I longed for the opportunity to hex his pretty face."

Harry had to clap his hand over his mouth to contain his laughter. "I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"You have to understand, Harry, he was a right pain in the arse."

Once the giggles had subsided, Cloud said, "Draco is not much like his father. While it's difficult to describe Narcissa Malfoy as sweet, she's certainly sweeter than her husband and Draco did inherit her gentler nature. He was never the pit viper that Lucious wanted him to be. Now, I don't think you'll be able to get Draco on your good side, but you don't have to make him your arch rival. Extend an olive branch to him."

"I would have to take it back once he called Hermione mudblood."

"Harry, be the bigger person and keep it extended, but that doesn't mean you can't call out such horrendous language. It is, after all, terribly low class to say such a thing. You're the heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter and the Boy Who Lived; telling Malfoy he has no class would have an effect."

"How come I was never brought up to understand the intricacies of houses? It feels like I missed out on a great deal."

"Harry, I wanted so desperately for you to have a normal childhood. If you've ever encountered noble children, there is nothing normal about their childhoods. They're like miniature adults coming into Hogwarts, playing the same power games their parents have taught them since birth. It seemed like a ridiculous thing to foist upon you when I suspected your lifespan was limited. Also, so few of the students in Gryffindor are of noble birth and don't really think about playing the same games as their parents."

At the mention of his own time limit, Harry touched the scar on his head. "Is there no way around it?"

"There is a way, Harry. You've learned about Horcruxes. The body needs to be destroyed, but the Killing Curse can only kill one target. When you visited the Other Side you had the opportunity to go back, but you choose not to because you felt you had nothing to return to. The same applies here, but there's simply no guarantee of your life afterwards."

"Right, well I guess we might as well not worry about it until we're closer to the end," Harry replied.

Harry barely managed to sleep on the last night of August. He was up by five in the morning. He'd packed his trunk the night before. He and Cloud had debated vociferously about where he was to be. Harry eventually managed to persuade Cloud to stay in the open space in his trunk ("Do you really want to hang on for dear life on the Knight Bus?"), but they agreed that he would be let out as soon as they got onto the train. Once he had pulled some clothes on, he opened the trunk to the open space and said, "Cloud, in the trunk. I want to leave before Uncle Vernon wakes."

Cloud barely stirred on the bed, flipping an ear in his direction. After Harry hissed at him once more, Cloud eventually stretched and yawned and ambled over to the hole in the trunk. He peered down into it and what looked like a grimace on a cat, before he jumped in. Harry had already lined the space with a blanket and set up a water dish stolen straight from Aunt Petunia. As he was leaving, he was going to steal some more turkey slices as he left the door. He'd certainly need something to eat, too.

After a few hours, they reached Kings Cross station with more than enough time to spare. Harry stopped at a little shop for a bagel and a cup of hot chocolate to tide him over until the witch with the trolley arrived on the train.

He fidgeted terribly. He had a book bag with some muggle books in it, but he didn't feel like he had the willpower to concentrate on them.. Was the platform open? He still had three hours until the train left. He bought a newspaper and read it, but muggle news was rather boring, and it seemed so - for lack of a better word - flat without the moving pictures and ads.

Finally, he couldn't wait any longer and he dragged his rolling trunk across the platform to the barrier that separated the muggle world from Platform 9 ¾ . He didn't take at a run like the first time and simply walked through as if it was an average archway. The scarlet steam engine was, of course, already there. He also noticed a handful of adults, apparently magical station workers, and he also saw a young woman in brand new robes who spotted him and walked over right away.

"Good morning! You're here awful early. Your first year?"

"Err...yeah. Professor McGonagall showed me how to get on the platform."

She smiled pleasantly but then glanced around and asked, "Where are your parents?"

"Oh, I came alone."

She raised her eyebrow at that, but didn't pry any further. "I'm Katrina Dulcett, Head Girl at Hogwarts, in Hufflepuff house. Maybe I'll see you there tonight. What's your name?"

Harry inwardly cringed. One of the few things he hated about restarting his time at Hogwarts was going back to feeling like a pariah and he steeled himself for her reaction. "I'm Harry Potter."

Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. As per usual, her eyes raked his forehead where his scar was thankfully mostly hidden by his bangs. "Harry Potter, I'm so pleased to meet you! Everyone was talking about how you would be coming to Hogwarts this year!

"Hi, pleased to meet you. What's a Head Girl? I'm...I...I don't really know much about the wizarding world."

"Oh, of course."

She began explaining the houses, Prefects, and Head Boy and Girl all over again. She talked with the wing speed of a snitch; Harry was bored to tears and when more people started filtering onto the platform that Harry said, "Thank you for your time! It looks like everyone else is arriving, so I better get on the train."

"Oh, certainly, let me help you," she replied. And with the excitement of someone who just reached majority age, she spoke the feather light spell and floated his trunk on board.

Harry hoped he looked appropriately amazed and he directed her to the cabin he wanted. Just as she went to hover the trunk into the above compartment, he shouted, "Wait!" He fumbled with the keys in his pocket, inserted a key, and stuck it in to open. He stuck his head down into the hole to find Cloud sprawled out on his side still looking irritated. "You can come out now." He needed no further urging; the white cat leapt straight up to land on the seat. The head girl gasped.

"Oh, is that your cat? She's beautiful."

"Err...yes, he is," Harry replied, really hoping that Cloud won't rib him for this later. It seemed strange to think of Dumbledore preening, but Cloud was considerably looser and less formal than when he was Headmaster. He'd always thought Dumbledore's attempts at formality strange when he had Lemon Drops at his desk and his password was always a candy of some sort.

It took a bit more prodding, but he eventually managed to send the Head Girl on her way. He slumped against the seat and blew out a breath of exasperation and muttered curse words under his breath. Cloud looked like he was trying to control his laughter and Harry said, "Don't you say a word."

"Mrow," Cloud replied. Even his cat voice was rather deep and melodious and it seemed strange coming from a cat, but he wasn't terribly familiar with cats either.

To pass the time, Harry pulled out the book _Tailchaser's Song_ from his book bag. He had decided to buy it on a lark when he went into town a few weeks after talking about it with Cloud and he started rereading it. It seemed quite simple in its premise, but it was an interesting read.

Cloud had his paws on the sill and was staring out the window, twitching his tail with interest. He suddenly became attentive and whispered, "It's Hermione."

Harry peered out the window. The platform had filled up quite a bit with parents, their students, and an assortment of creatures and trunks that the students were all bringing. Even with all of the distractions, it didn't take him long to find that familiar bushy head of hair standing right in the middle, clearly saying her last goodbyes to her parents.

"Cloud, make sure no one else sits here, unless it's Ron or Neville."

The cat simply meowed again as Harry darted out the door to greet her.

"Hermione!"

"Oh, hi, Harry! You excited to be going to school?"

"Of course! I think Hogwarts will be a lot of fun."

"I've already read and memorized all of my textbooks," Hermione replied, but then she seemed embarrassed. "I know that's a little odd, but it was just so fascinating!"

"I read all of my textbooks, too! I even went back to Diagon Alley and bought a few more books. I haven't memorized them, but I wanted more information too. Those companions sound really neat! It'd be cool to meet your companion at some time."

"They sound wonderful, though I'm not sure I'd want a big animal. It'd be hard to hide and I think I'd be a little scared of it trying to kill me," Hermione said.

"I got a book on companions and it seems once companions find their compatible partner, they lose their baser instincts and become more intelligent. At least that's what the book said."

"Hmm...I would think a book would have it right then," she replied. Harry remembered that Hermione had an implicit trust in books; she had felt betrayed when Gilderoy Lockhart had turned out to be a fraud. _I hope we don't get him again._

"Harry, right?" Mr. Granger asked once there was a lull in their conversation.

"Yep, I'm Harry," he said.

"We just want to thank you for being a friend to our daughter."

"Dad!"

"She tends to not have a lot of friends." Hermione grimaced and was flushing in embarrassment.

"Really? I think she's a lot of fun. Besides, we're both new to this world! It's nice to have someone to learn with!"

She seemed to flush a little deeper, but she was smiling at Harry.

"Come on, we should probably get you on the train," Harry said. "I've already got a compartment."

"You must have gotten here really early."

"Yep, I took something called the Knight Bus. It's the wizarding world's public transportation. I'll tell you about it, but let's just say it's not particular on arriving at specific times."

"Well, that's inconvenient!"

"It is, so I wanted to make sure I was here in time."

They got her stowed away. Hermione cooed over Cloud and petted him until he started to purr. Then she left once more to say goodbyes to her parents one last time. Harry followed her, but veered off into the crowd searching and hoping for the Weaseleys or even Neville. He was so grateful when no one questioned him or exclaimed about his scar as he searched; his hair must be doing its job finally. He wished that Cloud could brave the crowds and talk with him. He wasn't sure whether to be alarmed or pleased with how much he had come to rely on the cat and his lack of presence was like some sort of indentation that needed filled.

"Now, Neville, you have everything, right?"

"Yes, gran."

Harry whipped his head around to find Neville, round-faced and awkward, pulling his trunk along behind him as his gran led the way. His face was to the floor and unlike all the other first years, he did not seem to be excited to be there. Dumbledore had given him a run down on noble family behaviors, so it was entirely possible that he was simply trying to keep up a sense of decor. It seemed strange to Harry, but apparently noble children weren't allowed to become bouncy or excited. If they were pleased with something, they simply smiled. Harry thought the notion of controlling emotions to such an extent ridiculous and Cloud had said he agreed to a certain extent.

He was just starting to think about how he might approach Neville when Augusta Longbottom said, "Alright, now let's see about getting you into the train." Unlike the kind Hufflepuff girl, she seemed intent on making Neville lift his trunk all by himself and Harry took the opportunity to step in.

"Hi there! Need a hand?"

"Oh, yes please," Neville said.

"That would be very generous of you, young man."

"Sure," Harry replied and he stepped up to lift the back end of the trunk as Neville wrestled with the front end. They eventually got it into Harry's compartment, but they shoved it under the seats rather than bothering trying to get it into an overhead bin.

"Thanks a lot. No one ever wants to sit with me."

"Me neither. It's nice to have friends," Harry said with a grin.

"Really? Oh, forgive my rudeness, I'm Neville Longbottom..from...oh well from the Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom. That's supposed to be the full greeting."

"Really? I wouldn't know. I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

Like clockwork, Neville's eyes widened and he glanced up at his forehead, before flushing furiously, "P-pleased to meet you. I never - I mean...well, I guess it's silly to think I'd never meet you. My gran always told me that you'd be going to Hogwarts same years as me, but I never thought I'd actually meet you."

"Well, now you have."

"I guess so. If you don't mind my asking, but...where have you been? No one had a clue where you were."

"Oh, well, I was apparently placed with my aunt and uncle who are muggles. It's nice to be rejoining the magical world again." Cloud had curled up on the seat, listening with an ear cocked in their direction, and at that moment he yawned widely and meowed at Neville. "I think Cloud agrees. My aunt and uncle didn't take too kindly to having a wizard in the family."

"Really? That's such a shame. I almost ended up being a squib in the family. My uncle kept trying to scare the magic out of me. For a while, no one thought I was actually magical enough to go to Hogwarts, but then my uncle accidentally dropped me out of a second story window and I bounced across the lawn."

"Wow, it's a good thing your magic kicked in. That sounds like it would've hurt."

"Yeah, I guess. So is that your cat? I wish I had a cat or an owl, but my gran's allergic to cats. My uncle Algie gave me Trevor the toad," Neville said, pulling a big fat toad out of his pocket. "They're supposed to be magical, but I'm not sure on what they do."

"Huh. I wouldn't know any better than you would."

As they were talking, Cloud was perched on the window sill peering about with surprising interest. Harry had to push down the urge to ask him what he was looking for, because he obviously couldn't respond with Neville around.

The door opened. "I'm back. It was difficult to get mum and dad to let me go. Oh no!" Cloud suddenly made a dash for the door and slipped out between Hermione's legs. "Harry, I'm so sorry! I'll help you get him back!"

"Don't worry about it, Hermione, I'll do it," Harry replied in a strained voice and he fell into the corridor and right into some third years. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Watch where ya goin'" One of the students said, but Harry didn't paid him little attention and was too busy looking at the ground.

 _What is Cloud thinking?!_ He glanced at his watch. _The train leaves in fifteen minutes! Should I just wait for him to come back?_ He undoubtedly would; he had to get to Hogwarts with Harry as his pet. _Calm down. Where would Cloud go?_ He shoved past people, profusely apologizing even as he looked at the ground, seeing not even a flash of white fur. Panic was beginning to set in again. Would he be going to Hogwarts alone after all?


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** Hey, everyone! Once again, thank you so much for reading and supporting this fiction, with your reviews, favorites, and alerts. It means a lot. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! =)

 **No Trigger Warnings**

 **Chapter 11**

Harry shoved his way back onto the platform and glanced around at the sea of people that was still swarming it. _He's small, I'll never see him here!_ He thought as he felt his heart began to pound with barely suppressed panic.

 _Think just a moment,_ he told himself in a way to calm him down. _Cloud is not dumb. He saw something and ran for it. Was it something he wanted me to see or was it something else that merely interested him?_ Cloud had promised that he'd stop keeping secrets, but Harry would have to admit that he didn't fully believe Cloud could be beholden to that promise. After all the secrets that were dug up about him in his seventh year, he had no doubts that he still had a few. So far, he'd had very few issues with Cloud though. He had even kowtowed to him when they'd had the argument about turning in Vernon or not by writing McGonagall. He finally steeled himself, _I am certain that this is something he wants me to see._

He rushed into the crowd, apologizing profusely while keeping his eyes glued to the ground. It seemed he virtually scoured the platform to no avail until -

"Well, hello there. Aren't you cute? Shouldn't you be on board with your owner?"

Harry turned to the sound a felt himself immediately blush scarlet. There was Ginny Weasley, dressed in a lovely black and yellow summer dress petting the white cat that was rubbing against her legs.

"Mrow."

 _We are going to have words when we get to Hogwarts,_ Harry instantly thought. His mind raced through the dozens of possibles way to start this conversation and he threw out every single one of them. He just focused on the cat and said, "Cloud! What are you doing?! The train is about to leave!" He walked up to them in what he opened was a confident manner, but his heart was thudding and his legs felt weak. "Hi there! I'm so sorry you had to deal with my cat. He's a stubborn sort."

Ginny glanced over to him and smiled. "He's a nice cat. I love kitties!"

"He's a pain in the arse."

She couldn't help but giggle and he was certain his face was now beet red. "I'm sorry. I should introduce myself. I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

As was usual now, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped and she seemed to go weak in the knees herself. He hadn't forgotten that she had virtually hero-worshipped him as a little girl and he sincerely hoped she'd get over the phase faster this time around.

"Ha-Harry Potter!"

He immediately put a finger to his lips and she clamped down on the girlish squeak that almost left her lips. When he glanced around, he saw that Mrs. Weasley was a small distance away, still talking with the rest of her boys. It was almost enough for him to abandon her to seek out Ron, but he stamped down on that idea and focused on Ginny. He wanted to be friends with her faster and since Cloud opened this unique opportunity, he should jump on it.

"Sorry. I know I'm famous in this world, but I'd prefer fewer people know about it right now. I don't really feel like the hero everyone seems to worship me as."

"Oh o-of course. I'm so pleased to meet you! I - I mean, I know you just said you don't like it, but I've always looked up to you."

"Well, er uh thank you," Harry replied. "But I don't really feel anything other than normal. I'm not even sure if I'm that good of a wizard yet."

"I'm sure you'll do great at school. You're Harry Potter!"

"Please, Ginny, I don't have any special powers." He realized his slip up almost as soon as he noticed it and her face, which was already porcelain white, went even paler - if that was at all possible - and he was certain she was about to faint. "Ah, I'm sorry! I - uh - I - I heard one of your brothers over there calling your name earlier. I didn't mean to do that."

"That seemed to be enough to jar her from the shock and she said, "Oh, okay. For a moment there, I thought you could...read minds."

"Oh no no no no! I can't do that. I just overhead your brothers calling you while I was looking for Cloud, that's all." He startled when he heard the train whistle. "Merlin's beard, I have to run! Come on, Cloud!" The platform had nearly emptied while they were talking and only a few stragglers like himself were waiting on the platform. Cloud was already way ahead of him, jumping nimbly back onto the steps to the train.

He leapt for the steps just as the train began to surge forward and he pulled himself into the carriage. Cloud was waiting for him at the top of the stairs and Harry glared down at him.

"Mow!"

Harry was on the verge of giving the cat a lecture, when a person nudged him out of the way and was abruptly reminded of where he was. To show his annoyance with the cat, he picked him up and manhandled him back into the carriage; Cloud _hated_ being picked up and yowled as he went in search of the carriage again.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so glad you made it," Hermione squealed when he entered their cabin again.

"We saw you running to catch at the last minute."

"Yeah, no thanks to this furball," Harry grumbled.

Cloud finally managed to wriggle out of his grasp and seemed to glare right back at him, before going about licking the fur that had gotten ruffled by Harry. No one else had come into the cabin while he'd been away and he felt himself deflate at not seeing Ron. He hadn't even really had the opportunity to see him on the platform. He'd seen the twins and Percy, but Ron must have been on the other side of Mrs. Weasley. If Trevor went missing again, he'd have a reason to explore the train and find his other friend.

The first round of conversation involved which house they all thought they were going to be in.

"My parents were in Gryffindor. My gran expects me to be in Gryffindor, but I just don't know. It's supposed to be the home of the bold and the brave and I'm just not that. I bet I'll be in Hufflepuff," Neville said, a little gloomily.

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff," Hermione immediately said. "Did you know Newt Scamander was a Hufflepuff? He's pretty much the father of magizoology."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Neville replied, looking hopeful. "It's not that I think being Hufflepuff would be bad, but I don't want to disappoint my gran."

"Sorry, Neville, but it sounds like your gran expects too much of you. You shouldn't try to force yourself into anything. Besides, you're still a kid. You'll have time to grow and try your strengths," Harry replied, thinking about how the clumsy, chubby child would grow into a force to be reckoned with.

"Harry's right, Neville. You still have loads of time to figure it all out. As for me, I have a feeling I'll probably get sorted into Ravenclaw. From what I've read, it's the house that loves to learn the most."

"Yep, and we know you and your books," Harry replied with a grin, satisfied with knowing that Hermione would be a Gryffindor just like him.

"How about you, Harry? What house do you think you'll be in?" Hermione replied. There was a small blush lingering on her cheeks from his book comment.

"I imagine I'll be in Gryffindor. My parents were both Gryffindors. I don't feel particularly bold or brave, but I think that's where I'll go. If I get sorted into another house, I'll be happy with it, as long as it's not Slytherin." He shuddered at the thought.

"I must say _Hogwarts: A History_ certainly talked about Slytherin house and tried to stay neutral, but even I was under the impression that it is not a well-liked house."

"Well, almost all the noble children from the most powerful families go into Slytherin. They hate muggleborns and just from my contact with some of the other kids, they all treat every act like it's a power play of some sort," Neville replied. "It was very stressful. I _really_ don't want to go there. Gran doesn't like many of their parents anyway. Ohhh...I hope I don't get Slytherin."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Neville," Harry said. "I read in a book - and I can't remember which book," he added hastily at the gleam in Hermione's eyes. " - that you can sort of choose your house, or the judge will at least take it into consideration."

"I would hope so. You'd think they want everyone to get along," Hermione replied. The topic evolved into Quidditch from there and eventually Hermione became bored enough to pull out a book, while Harry and Neville talked around her. The witch with the trolley came a few hours into their journey and, just like the first time, Harry bought a little of each and persuaded Neville and Hermione to help him eat through it all.

They were halfway through the candy when Neville suddenly began looking around his area. "Where's Trevor? Trevor!" There was very little besides the candy to hide under, so it was quickly determined that he slipped out when the witch with the trolley had come along.

Harry immediately jumped up. "We should go looking for him."

"Where would a toad go?"

"I guess we better find out," Harry replied.

"Come on, Neville, we'll help you find him faster. He must be around here somewhere," Hermione agreed with Harry.

"Are you sure? This isn't exactly your responsibility. I'm supposed to be looking after him," Neville said with melancholy.

"We're your friends! Of course we'll help you find him," Hermione said, seeming to be delighted at the idea of having friends once more. Harry couldn't help but feel a pang at the thought that such a brilliant - albeit a little bossy - girl such as her had never had a true friend before.

Harry had never thoroughly explored the Hogwarts train before and even though he had an understanding of how big it was, he still was surprised as he went from compartment to compartment and didn't run into a single Weasley for nearly thirty minutes. The first one was naturally Percy who, surprisingly enough, didn't seem enthusiastic about helping a student search for their pet. Hermione actually lectured him for that, but Harry was glad to not have Percy breathing down their necks the whole time. He wandered off alone to the other half of the train.

He saw Fred and George and Lee Jordan next. He was offered sweets, but Harry just smiled and declined, claiming he had enough sweets back in his compartment. After what seemed like ages, he finally pulled open a compartment and almost lost himself with a grin as he saw Ron seeming to gear up for a rather orange colored Bertie Botts Every Flavored Bean. Harry glanced around the compartment and noticed Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie Macmillan.

As he glanced around, he caught sight of Wormtail nibbling on a Cockroach Cluster and he felt his anger flare. What he wouldn't give to reach over and grab the putrid rat right now and force him to reveal himself, but he managed to tamp that feeling down just in time to hear Ron ask, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Oh, sorry, I don't care much for rats. Anyway, hi, I'm looking for a toad. Have any of you seen one?"

"Oh hullo, Harry! I almost forgot you. You remember me, right?" Justin suddenly piped up, grinning at him with the same uncontrollable excitement that all the other first years had.

"Of course! Nice to see you again, Justin! Think you're ready for school?"

"I hope so," he replied. "Oh, sorry, Ron, Ernie, this is Harry. We met at the Muggle Integration tour that Professor McGonagall took us on."

Harry smiled and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you! I'm Harry Potter!"

Ron was just reaching for his hand when the movement died midway and his mouth dropped open. His eyes roved his forehead and it took a minute to get his voice back. Ernie appeared to have gone into shock.

"H-harry Potter? Wow! I didn't realize you were my age," Ron finally said, his face flushing scarlet. "But wait...what were you doing in the Muggle Integration tour?"

"My aunt and uncle raised me and they...didn't really tell me about magic. Professor McGonagall decided to include me. I must say, it was very useful, but I don't feel like I learned a whole lot. Are your family wizards?"

"Oh yeah," Ron replied. "My mum and dad are wizards. Their relatives are wizards and then I have five older brothers and a young sister. They're all magical too."

"Harry Potter, I'm so pleased to meet you! I'm Ernie! My family is pureblood, too. I could tell you more about magic!"

"Wow! Growing up must've been so exciting!"

"Why don't you join us?"

"Oh, no, sorry, I can't. I wouldn't want to leave my other friends, Hermione and Neville. Oh, right, and I'm looking for Neville's toad. Have any of you seen it?" They shook their hands. "Okay, I have to keep looking. I'll see you all at Hogwarts!"

Harry walked away with an extra spring in his step and felt his chest was full to bursting with happiness. It felt good to see his friends as young and innocent, not scarred and worn by the terrible war. He faltered just slightly as he realized they will probably end up suffering in the end anyway, but he hastily shoved that thought aside. He and Cloud had discussed the war several times and both of them had come to the conclusion that he'd have to be a little older and his powers a little stronger before they could make any serious plans.

He continued down the train and not ten minutes later, ran into someone he was _not_ looking forward to meeting. Harry could hear his obnoxiously reedy voice through the door. He sighed heavily and braced himself, but he had to pull this off.

" - father wanted me to go to Durmstrang, so that I wouldn't have to put up with the mudblood lover Dumbledore, but mother didn't want me so far away."

Harry knocked and shoved open the door, to see Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, and Theodore Nott all staring up at him with less than pleasant expressions.

"Who do you think you are, barging in here?" Malfoy snarled at him, immediately leaping to his feet. Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles like usual and he had a feeling they'd flank Malfoy if the cabin was big enough to allow it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just looking for a..." The words died on his lips as he a strange black creature suddenly focus on him with beady eyes. "What is that?!"

Draco smirked and turned to the creature, running a loving finger over its burnt orange head. "This is my companion Kalos. It's a fruit bat or, as they're commonly known, a flying fox."

Draco Malfoy already had his companion! This year was already turning out worse than he thought it could be. "Where'd you get it?"

"Australia, not that it's any of your business," Malfoy replied with a nasty smirk. "Now, I'm going to ask again, who do you think you are, barging in here?"

Harry had difficulty wrenching his eyes away from the bat as it stared at him from his perch on Malfoy's shoulder with a quizzical and - dare he say it? - rather cute expression. Finally, he shook himself and asked, "Have any of you seen a toad?"

They all burst out into nasty snickers.

"A toad?! I'd be embarrassed to even own one."

"Well, that's what my friend has, a toad, now if you'll excuse me…"

"Wait!" Malfoyo stopped the door with a hand and a look of confirmation crossed his face. "You're Harry Potter."

All at once, the cabin fell silent as they all stared at him.

"Yes, I am. Pleased to meet you. And you are?" He kept it polite but he had a feeling his voice sounded anything but interested. He likened his mood right now to bristling, not unlike Cloud when he was upset, so he took a few breaths and attempted to unruffle himself.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. This is Vincent Crabb, Gregory Goyle, and…"

"I'm Theodore Nott. I don't need you to introduce me, Malfoy."

The blonde rolled his eyes, but he self-satisfied smirk never left his face. "My father told me you'd be starting Hogwarts this year. You said you've already got some friends, but I can introduce you to some real friends. Slytherin house is where the best go and you'd do well to go there."

"I'll think about it. I haven't thought much about what house to go into. I'm assuming you get to pick right?"

"Something like that," Malfoy replied with a smirk.

"We don't think you quite understand. You have to pick a side," Theo replied.

"What side?"

"There are some wizards who seem to think that every mophead who produces some sparks deserves to go to Hogwarts. We're the side who thinks it should be kept strictly among the old blood, the purest," Malfoy said, staring at him rather piercingly. "As a descendant of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, surely you must agree."

"Umm...I really don't know much about the situation, but I do know that my mum was a muggleborn. I don't see any reason why she shouldn't have been able to come to Hogwarts."

Draco shook his head sadly. "You would've been born of much purer stock if the Potter family had taken any pride in their bloodline. You can right that wrong!"

"I'm only eleven! Why is it important for me to pick sides now? I can't even do it later?"

"You could be corrupted."

"Corrupted by who?"

"All the mudblood loving scum that reside at Hogwarts. Only those in House Slytherin take this issue seriously."

It took all of the patience that Harry could summon not to punch Malfoy in the face. Not that it would've ended well with three of his buddies there to jump on him, but he decided to make his escape instead. "Look, I'm looking for a toad right now and I'd like to find it before we get to Hogwarts. Maybe we can talk about this once we get there?"

"But then you'll have already been sorted!"

"I guess I'll figure it out then," Harry replied with a bite of annoyance and finally slammed the door shut in Malfoy's face. _Merlin's beard, he doesn't know when to shut up!_

He finished searching his half of the train and headed back to his own compartment.

"No Trevor?" Neville asked, looking on the verge of crying.

"I'm sorry, Neville, but no one's seen him. I'm sure he'll turn up," Harry replied, giving him an encouraging smile.

It was then that Hermione decided to show up and she said, "We'll be reaching Hogwarts soon. You should put on your robes."

Just as she said it, a familiar voice called out over the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Hermione and Neville filed out into the corridor where the rest of the students were gathering, but Harry hesitated. He glanced back at Cloud was staring up at him earnestly.

"Don't worry, Cloud. You'll be at the castle in no time," Harry said, though he felt silly reassuring a cat and also silly since Cloud knew perfectly well what was going to happen.

What he was _not_ expecting was for Cloud to get a suddenly determined look on his face, prep up, and suddenly lunge for Harry's shoulders.

"Aaah! Geroff me, Cloud, you can't go to Hogwarts with me right now!"

"Don't look Dumbledore in the eye," Cloud whispered into his ear, before pivoting to jump back onto the seat cushion where he landed so gracelessly he almost smacked into a wall.

Harry felt a cold shiver run down his back at his words before he headed out of the door, closing it behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** We just passed 10K views! That is amazing! Thank you all so much for your support, your reviews, and favorites and alerts.

 **Chapter 12**

Just like last time, the night was still and clear. The only sounds that could be heard were the chirping of crickets and the croaking of bullfrogs by the lake's edge. Harry felt his heart soar as a lamp waved merrily above their heads; it plummeted in almost the same instant when a gruff voice that held no warmth called out, "First years, to me! First years!"

Harry peered up at the very average looking man who couldn't have been much older than middle-aged, but there were deep lines in his face, a bushy mustache, his hair was graying, and he moved stiffly. The lantern seemed to maintain an oddly fixed height. He surveyed them, dragging the light over them, and then nodded when he decided that he had everyone. He turned and hobbled his way down the pathway to the lake where the boats rested.

They rounded the corner to see the gleaming windows and towering turrets of Hogwarts. Even now, Harry felt his breath stolen away as he stared up longingly at the only place he'd ever known as home. It was intact and untouched and a surprising warmth welled up in his chest.

"It's beautiful," Hermione said right next to him.

"Wow," Neville said breathlessly.

"Four to a boat, please. Four to a boat. And no rocking them," the man shouted at them.

Harry helped Hermione and Neville both into the boat, but the boy Harry recognized as Sean Price, the one who loved dragons, knocked his hand away as he climbed aboard. Harry just shrugged.

"And forward," the older wizard, as the boats gently scraped across the shore and glided across the smooth lake. They floated under the curtain of ivy and their boats gently bumped into the docks beneath the castle. As they climbed the stairs, Harry had to stifled his laughter as his body struggled to climb the first flight of stairs. He had gone up and down the steps of Hogwarts so often that by the end, a large flight like this no longer phased him, but he wasn't in that body anymore.

They came to the large front doors and the old wizard gazed at them archly, as though he was expecting to find troublemakers, then huffed to himself and raised his hand to knock on the door as solidly as he could. It was now that Harry realized the reason the man moved so stiffly was because his left arm was missing entirely and the _thunk_ they heard the entire way up the stairs was the result of a peg on his right leg.

Harry dragged his attention away as the door opened to Professor McGonagall standing there looking regal and cross.

"The first years, Professor."

Thank you, Professor Kettleburn," she replied and the man immediately hobbled off another way. "Follow me," she ordered and not a single student dared to so much as step their toe out of line.

"You, boy!" They all turned to see Professor Kettleburn holding a wet and grumpy looking toad. "Is this your toad?"

"Trevor," Neville cried and rushed over to grab the squawking animal and stuffed it into his pocket. "Thank you, sir."

"Now get along, before Professor McGonagall gets any crosser," he said, blowing out his mustache. Neville hurried back, Harry pounded on his back in congratulations, and then they began following McGonagall up yet more flights of stairs to the room just off to the side of the Great Hall.

"Wait here quietly; I will be back for you shortly," McGonagall said as she headed out of the room, leaving the to speculate.

 _I wonder if they do this to us on purpose,_ Harry thought, as he observed his classmates whispering nervously to each other and wringing their hands.

"My brother Fred told me it hurts a lot," Ron whispered from a few people down.

"I don't think they'd do that to us," Harry said. "Professor McGonagall has been nothing but kind to me. I don't think she'd enjoy hurting us." _Torturing us with nerves is another thing,_ he thought dryly.

"How would you know," Malfoy said with a nasty smirk. His fruit bat was now hanging off his arm, wrapped in his wings, asleep, but he held it aloft as though he were Dracula opening his cape. "You've lived your whole life with muggles; what do you know about Hogwarts?"

Harry blinked at him. "You're expecting me to believe that witches and wizards would send their children to a place that hurts them? That doesn't make sense."

"My point is that you know nothing! You haven't lived in our world like the rest of us; you don't know it like we do. You don't belong here!"

"Put a sock in it, Malfoy," a girl with long, honey blonde hair done up in two braids and a surprisingly serene face stepped forward, tailed by another girl with dark brown hair cut in a bob. "Are you suggesting, after all, that Harry Potter does not deserve his education at Hogwarts? No one with an ounce of sense believes that."

He turned scarlet and he seemed ready to spit venom at her, both literally and figuratively, when the ghosts interrupted the fight and caused several people to scream at their appearance. Harry didn't jump this time and instead turned to the girl and said, "Thank you."

"You need not thank me. It's always a pleasure to put Malfoy in his place," she replied, but her eyes remained cold and calculating and she barely lifted one corner of her mouth in simulation of a smile. "Daphne Greengrass," she said, holding out her hand.

It clicked in his Harry's mind and he shook her hand. He remembered her, but only vaguely. She never did run with Malfoy's crowd and therefore they had never crossed paths in the life before. He did recall that she was often referred to as the Ice Queen and he could see why.

"Tracey Davis," her dark-haired friend said, also holding her hand out in a shake. She attempted her friend's controlled expressions, but her eyes were considerably warmer and she did actually have a smile on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Harry said.

McGonagall returned at that instant, waving the ghosts along, and then she ordered them into a line and they marched forward. Harry could practically feel Draco's eyes drilling into the back of his head from a few people down.

As they entered the hall, Harry couldn't resist gazing up into the starry night sky of the ceiling and grinning widely. He especially enjoyed the view on nights like this, when the stars were gleaming and countless.

McGonagall halted them before the tattered Sorting Hat as it sat there lifelessly. In the next moment, the tear at the brim opened wide and began singing out its song. Harry fondly remembered how he and Ron agreed that it must think up the lyrics to the next sorting over the course of the year.

It began, of course, with Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones, both being sorted into Hufflepuff one after the other. Terry Boot was once again the first Ravenclaw. Though it was some years back, Harry felt like his Sorting was going as normal, with Tracey Davis, Daphne's friend, getting sorted into Slytherin.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione briskly walked up to the hat and jammed it on her head in her excitement. She seemed to quiver with anticipation. Harry grinned.

After a minute or two, the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

His grin fell from his face and he thought he might have a heart attack as he watched her go to the table next to Gryffindor's. She looked over to him with a grin and waved at him. He fixed a smile to his face and gave her a thumbs up, but he suddenly felt clammy and unsteady.

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

His mind was whirring with an infinite number of questions, but he tried to clear his mind the way Cloud taught him. Having just met her, Harry paid extra attention to her as she calmly walked up to the hat, placing it gently over her head as though she were afraid it would ruin her hair otherwise. She took quite some time to sort and if Harry wasn't mistaken, he could see some tension in her hands that lie folded in her lap.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry's eyes went wide. The Slytherin table gasped and began murmuring amongst themselves. Tracey looked stricken. To Daphne's credit, she pulled the hat off and gently put it on the stool with her head held high, but she walked to the Gryffindor table like she was heading to the gallows. The table clapped regardless, but there were undoubtedly some purebloods among them who were scratching their head.

The sorting continued and while much of it stayed largely the same, there were differences. Malfoy got his wish instantly, Neville made Gryffindor as before, but Padma and Parvati Patil _both_ got sorted into Gryffindor. He was puzzled at that since Lavender and Parvati had initially put so much stock into Professor Trelawney and they seem convinced that the difference in their astrological signs was the reason for their being sorted into separate houses. Now they were in the same house.

"Potter, Harry!"

As per usual, whispering broke out amongst the students like a winter draft had visited the Great Hall. He paid them no mind, but whereas he thought he would be cool, calm, and collected for this Sorting, he was surprised to find his legs were shaking almost as much as the last time. Only this time, it was from reeling at the fact that Hermione wouldn't be in Gryffindor.

The hat fell down over his eyes and he heard the hat whisper into his ear, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? This is a new one."

"Well?" Harry whispered back.

"I must say, you'll be a difficult one to sort indeed. Seeing as you were already in Gryffindor, it's a fitting house to place you and there's no denying that what you are doing right now takes a monumental amount of courage. However, what you're trying to do requires no small amount of scheming and cunning. If there was ever a hallmark of the House of Slytherin, you have more of it than most Slytherins I sort there. You clearly possess intelligence and talent and I can sense your thirst to improve yourself. Let's not forget loyalty. You've embarked on this journey for those you love and cherish; you fit well in Hufflepuff."

"Not Slytherin, please." Before the hat could answer him again, he asked, "Why did you put Hermione in Ravenclaw? Was she lacking in Gryffindor courage?"

"You know that I am bound in confidence to those I sort. If you truly wish to know, you must ask her yourself. However, I will leave you with this: circumstances change. The smallest detail can change a sorting, but most of all, the _choices_ those individuals make depend on their sorting. You cannot count on the elements of your past to dictate this future."

"Are you like Tom, too?"

"I have no idea who you're talking about. My knowledge is limited to within this castle, but it grows and expands with each new mind I sort. You would do well to remember, what I have told you."

Harry had to tamp down his frustration; it seemed like no matter who he talked to, he was only met with riddles and no clear answers.

"I don't see why everything has to change. Better be...GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat shouted out to the hall. Gryffindor table burst into applause and he noticed that he even had some courtesy claps from some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. He tried to smile widely, but it felt fake with the burden that lie heavy on his heart. When he looked back at the center, he perked up again upon seeing Ron at the end of the line, looking pale under his freckles.

Dean Thomas was sorted again into Gryffindor. When finally it came to Ron, he almost tripped over his robes - which struck Harry as odd; Ron's robes were _always_ too short and these looked new - he put the hat on and sat on the chair, gripping the sides of it so hard his knuckles were white.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Ron let out a breath and grinned, rushing over to his new friends.

Harry sat cold in his seat. _Neither_ of his best friends were going to be in Gryffindor with him? Meeting every calamity with Voldemort felt so easy when he knew he had loved ones and friends at his back. Who were going to be his friends now?

"Gasp! Our little brother is in Hufflepuff," George cried out.

"We've never had a Weasley in Hufflepuff," Fred said.

"Who are we going to torture with our shenanigans now?"

"Will you two pipe down?" Percy hissed at them.

"Oh Percy, we almost forgot you were here. So we _will_ have a brother to torture."

"Thank you for reminding us of your presence." The twins had a decidedly evil grin on their faces. Percy went red at it.

"You alright there, Harry?" Neville whispered to him.

A wave of guilt crashed over him at not even thinking about Neville. He regretted Neville not being his friend sooner and the last thing he should be doing is neglecting Neville again because he was too busy wallowing about his other friends.

"I'm alright. I had just hoped Hermione would be in Gryffindor with us."

"Oh yeah, she was very nice. We can still be friends with her, though, can't we?"

"We can certainly try," Harry replied.

Dumbledore finally stood after Blaise Zabini had been sorted into Slytherin again.

"Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" He then clapped his hands and the delicious food appeared before their eyes, to shouts of delight from the first years.

Harry had kept his eyes focused on Dumbledore's long white beard, trying to heed Cloud's advice at not looking him in the eye. He looked like Cloud had and certainly sounded like Cloud had; he felt the usual warm sentiment of trust as he usually did upon hearing the Headmaster's deep, but cheery voice. It seemed very odd for his Dumbledore not to trust his counterpart in this timeline.

He loaded up his plate and listened as everyone talked about their heritage and the incidents that indicated their magical talent. He noticed that Daphne Greengrass was sitting next to Percy, who attempted to drag her into conversation, but she simply stirred the food on her plate, eating sparingly. _I wonder what convinced her to want to be a Gryffindor._ The hat must've had a truly compelling argument for her to choose her rival house.

Harry looked up at the staff table and followed it until he came to Professor Quirrell's spot. He was having a conversation with Snape, but this time Harry wasn't looking at Snape, but straight at the back of Quirrell's head. _Is Voldemort already on the back of his head?_ It certainly would be useful if he could find away to tear his turban off and expose the turncloak for what he was. Just as before, a sharp pain wrenched through his head, but he merely winced and returned to his meal, but he no longer had much of an appetite.

This would be considerably harder than he anticipated.

 **Author's Note:** I'm sure people are very puzzled with the way the Sorting went. I will not explain some aspects of it(because spoilers!), but I do want to re-emphasize the impact of small changes. In this one, she became friends with Harry early, when before it took her at least two months before she actually made some friends.

Ron spent his train ride with Hufflepuffs. He's always wanted to be different from his brothers and with extra incentive of being friends with a pair of Hufflepuffs, he really wanted to follow his new friends. One aspect of Ron's personality is his loyalty and I think he would fit perfectly with Hufflepuff.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Notes:** Welcome to Chapter 13! This story has accumulated +12K views! Wow! Thank you all for your support, by reviewing, favoriting, and adding this to your alerts!

 **No Trigger Warnings**

 **Chapter 13**

Harry lie in bed listening for the sounds of boys sleeping. Neville was gently snoring behind his curtain and he could hear Seamus snuffling and adjusting for maximum comfort. Thomas Dean, by comparison, slept like the dead and there was nary a sound but the soft exhalation of his breath, not that Harry could hear it. Cloud was currently curled up at his feet, but if there was anything to go by the twitching of his tail, he was waiting for their chat.

As per usual, Dumbledore had heralded the new term with the same rules of no magic in the corridors, Filch's list of banned objects, and the warning about the third floor corridor. In retrospect, Harry realized how ridiculous it was for Dumbledore to have mentioned it in the first place and he might consider asking Cloud about it.

Conversation had buzzed amongst his fellow Gryffindors, but Harry remained withdrawn and quiet as he dealt with storm of his emotions and doubts. He felt like a stone had sunk into his stomach that erased all appetite and now made him feel like he was carrying a great big lump around with him. Neville had tried to draw him into conversation with him again, but his responses had been short. The other Gryffindors seemed to catch onto his mood and let him be, but he heard whispers as he left the hall that perhaps he had truly not wanted to go into Gryffindor. He'd have to pinch those rumors in the bud tomorrow, but he allowed himself this one evening to wallow and fret.

He had really been itching to talk to Cloud, but it wasn't until he arrived here that he realized it might be more difficult than he thought to have frequent conversations with him. They'd have to hold them in his trunk for the night, but in the future Harry felt like they now needed to start scheduling them and, currently, the most private place in the school was the Room of Requirement. He was going to enjoy having that at his disposal this time around.

When he was sure everyone was safely asleep, he cast the silencing charm on his case and made a motion for Cloud to jump in. The cat didn't hesitate and landed softly and waited for them. Harry climbed in and slowly lowered the lid to make sure he didn't disturb anybody.

" _Lumos,_ " he spoke softly and the tip of his wand emitted a soft warm yellow light. They situated themselves. Cloud was lying on his side, staring at Harry expectantly and finally Harry launched into all that had happened, including the situations on the train that Cloud wasn't there for, particularly his conversation with Draco Malfoy.

"Did you say Daphne Greengrass was sorted into Gryffindor?"

"Yes."

"Now, that is rather odd. I figured if there was ever a secondary house for her, it'd be Ravenclaw," Cloud said, humming in contemplation. "Did she speak to you?"

"No, she was very quiet. I'm under the impression that she didn't want to be put into Gryffindor."

"Now, I never had much contact with Miss Greengrass in my previous life, however I did know her father. They are neutral in the game of politics. They typically keep their cards to their chests, but I have found Lord Greengrass to be upstanding. He was _never_ to have a known association with Voldemort. Granted, he didn't do anything to stop Voldemort's rise, but he never joined him and rumor has it that he takes very little stock in pureblood ideology. Take that for what you will."

"Hmm," Harry contemplated. "It's rather cowardly not to stand up for what you believe in."

"It is," Cloud said, "However, everyone places a different value on their principles. I'm not saying Lord Greengrass was correct in his position, but Voldemort was well known for wiping out entire families, pureblood or not. He was probably protecting his family."

"Even so. I wouldn't want my children to grow up in a world run by Voldemort."

"Harry, you're much braver than the average wizard. The Order of the Phoenix, only made up a tiny fraction of the wizarding population. It stands to reason that most wizards - admittedly most muggles too - lack the courage to stand up to great evil."

It was that moment that Harry abruptly remembered just what he had lost and felt himself deflate. He had been a mess when he lost his best mate, Ron, and his love, Ginny. Why did he not once realize that he could possibly lose them? He was certain it had entered his mind, but the thought had been fleeting. They'd had so many close scrapes that perhaps he thought they'd never die, but it seemed their luck had finally run out.

"It seems this time maybe their cards got tipped a little too much. I'd be _very_ curious to have heard her conversation with the Sorting Hat."

"How _does_ the Sorting Hat work?"

"Well, the Sorting Hat honestly chooses on a case-by-case basis. Overall, if an individual chooses a house, the Sorting Hat will give it to them. However, a good number of people go to the Sorting with either a vague idea of where they belong or none at all. The Hat gives them their options and I think in rare cases it tries to sway them."

"I was thinking the same thing, "Harry replied. "She looked so unhappy, but she also looked...resolved."

"She has political goals that may align more closely with the Light side. Or, and I don't think this is unprecedented, she already has plenty of allies whose loyalties will likely not sway in Slytherin. She can make no more progress in that House when it comes to shoring up her support. She may have been persuaded to go to another house to branch out and make more allies."

"Sure, but Gryffindor? Slytherin hates us and we hate them."

"I would think it obvious," Cloud replied, giving him a pointed look.

"For me?"

"Harry, you're an exceedingly powerful figure. You may be young yet, but you're the head of a powerful and ancient house, with seats on the Wizengamot, you made the dark lord disappear, and while you were in school, you were among the most popular students here. While you may think that doesn't account for much, your peers will follow you into adulthood. You won't lose that power. You need to learn to use it wisely. I think Daphne would be a good teacher, but you have to be receptive to her friendship."

"How can you be so sure of all of this?"

"I can't. It's merely a theory, Harry, and I would highly suggest you don't come to Daphne Greengrass with these thoughts. If she doesn't approach you, you should consider approaching her as yourself. Don't think about power, don't think about politics, think about how one child simply wants to befriend another."

"Okay," Harry replied, feeling a headache starting to build as his list of goals continued to grow. "What should I do about Hermione and Ron? I don't want to lose them as friends."

"Then don't. There are plenty of students who have interhouse friendships."

"I know, but it makes it that much more difficult to get close to them. Ron barely even knows me!"

"You know Justin Finch-Fletchley. From the sounds of it, he's friends with Ron and if you invite him out, be sure to extend the invitation to the rest of his friends."

"This seems awfully conniving," Harry replied with a frown.

"Harry, if you want to be friends with Ron, this is the easiest way to do it. You have a multitude of options available to you, some more successful than others. You also have the option to choose not to befriend Ronald Weasley this time around."

 _Why does this have to be so hard?_ The first time around hadn't seemed that difficult, but knowing the future seemed to have complicated things a thousandfold.

"You don't need to rush anything, Harry. You have time. Meanwhile, you should try to cultivate friends from those who are in your house. You said yourself that you regret not fostering your friendship with Neville from the beginning. Start anew."

"Yeah," Harry replied, wincing at the way he ignored Neville through most of dinner. _I was a right prat. I better apologize to him in the morning._

"I am pleased with the way you handled Draco Malfoy. It's difficult to remember exact conversations, but it sounds like you at least didn't throw his words back in his face. He was a temperamental young man, so staying on his good side, even if you were in Slytherin, would have been difficult. You did the best you could."

Harry sighed. "It feels like we'll be rivals forever. I'm not sure I have the energy to put up with it this time, knowing he's just a snivelly little ferret who hides behind his daddy all the time."

"Indeed. The key to knocking Draco down a peg, would be to knock Lucious down a peg."

"He'll probably try the Slytherin journal stunt again. I wonder if there's any way I could get proof that he's behind it." Harry suddenly perked up. "He has dark artifacts hidden under his drawing room. Do you think the Auror's could do a raid on an anonymous tip?"

"It might not be under his drawing room this time."

It's still worth a try!"

"I can't deny that. It wouldn't hurt, especially since you barely know Malfoy, so there's no reason he would suspect you of sicking Aurors on his father."

"They might even snatch up the diary and we wouldn't have to worry about that nonsense."

"That would certainly be desirable."

"Speaking of the diary...what were you thinking, running off the train to see Ginny?"

"You are doing all of this so that you might be with Ginny at the end. No reason not to start your friendship early."

"What did that accomplish? She still barely knows me."

"You could write her. Your conversation was awfully short and you did scare her."

"Are you sure that wouldn't seem...creepy?"

"Not if you ask permission from her brothers at the minimum. Write to her apologizing for scaring her."

"That seems flimsy."

"Harry, you're The Boy Who Lived. You'll almost certainly have no issues reaching her."

He scowled at Cloud. "I've never used my fame or fortune to get what I wanted before."

"Or you can wait until next year, when Ginny is busy with classes and potentially writing in that diary…"

Harry groaned. "She wrote in the diary because she never had anyone to talk to. She'd probably tell Riddle all of our conversations."

"While that's hardly pleasant, it's not like that particular fraction of Voldemort's soul will rejoin him and relay all of your secrets."

"That would be unpleasant," Harry replied with a shudder.

A silence descended between them for a few minutes as they both seemed to mull over the new information. Cloud finally broke it. "I'm concerned about Malfoy having a companion."

"Yeah?"

"Well, we both read the companion book. Those with companions get elevated to a special council when they reach maturity. The noble and wealthiest families are those most able to travel around to find their companions. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine every single wealthy family traveling the world to all the companion sanctuaries to find their companions."

"Which means that Malfoy and his friends will be trying to grab power by finding their companions."

"Exactly."

"Cloud do you...oh never mind."

"What is it?"

"It's nothing. It's stupid," Harry said, drawing his knees up to him looking awfully morose.

"Nonsense, Harry. What is it?"

"Do you...do you think Hedwig's my companion?"

Cloud was silent for a moment and then he said, "That's highly speculative. I don't think I could tell you one way or the other."

"It's just...I felt like we had a special bond before. I never should've had her with me when we were doing the decoy thing. I could've written her a note and sent her to someone."

"The whole point of the charms we've been using is to hide people is that they're hidden from even owl contact."

"I know but...I could've sent her to McGonagall! She would've looked after her."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I know Hedwig was important to you."

"I was looking forward to having her back."

They lapsed into silence again. Cloud said, "We've been talking for some time. You should get to bed. I know you have classes tomorrow."

"I've already taken the classes," Harry said back wryly.

"Even so, you should make a good impression. You also need to be rested to be able to learn and live well."

"What will you do tomorrow?"

"Explore the castle."

Just as Harry was getting up to open the lid again, he said, "Oh, I don't feel like having these conversations is very...secure. We should go to the Room of Requirement."

"Excellent idea. We should have some sort of code."

"That sounds good. Too bad I don't have my cloak."

"With any luck, you'll get it this Christmas."

"I hope so."

"Now, code...if I need to talk to you, I'll meow and blink twice."

"Hmm...okay, I think I can manage that. And when I need to talk to you, I'll...hmm...I'll tell you that we're going to get you food. Speaking of, I'm sorry for not bringing you some of the feast. I'll be sure to bring you back some breakfast for tomorrow."

"Very well. Now, to bed!"

 **Author's Notes:** Unfortunately this is my last chapter in stock. I'm going to try to keep the one chapter schedule, but this may slow down. Sorry. =(


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** Hello, everybody! I hope you're all having a good day! Once again, thank you, all of you, for your support! I enjoy reading your reviews and I'm happy to see so many adding this story to their alerts.

Guest: Thank you for your thoughts! I feel like the transition from a capable adult to a barely capable child has not only affected Harry physiologically but also mentally. Cloud's there to try to give him the push in the right direction.

 **Chapter 14**

As he had promised himself, he apologized to Neville for ignoring him when he found him at breakfast. Neville waved it away, but the boy seemed cheered and was happy to include him at breakfast. He was less happy when he received his schedule and discovered they had Transfiguration right after. Harry promised to help him if he ran into trouble with his assignments.

There was never a moment in Harry's previous life where he felt like he was sailing through school, not even when doing Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, he breezed through his first classes so easily that it shocked even himself. It was he, not Hermione, who first turned their toothpick into a needle. It took a couple of tries, because he still didn't have access to his well of magic, but concentrating on the spell hadn't been difficult in the slightest.

Harry was shocked at how well he seemed to have retained the information from his earlier years. If his mind was a library of books, he was currently dusting off an admittedly disused section, but it was still accessible. Hermione grinned at him for his success and he beamed back. He proceeded to coach Neville for the rest of the lesson, but his wand only sparked and fizzled. Harry was reminded of Cloud mentioning that he had been stuck with his father's wand; he made a mental note to tally up all the problems he was having with it and then try to persuade him to write to his gran about getting a wand actually fit for him.

If there was one thing nice about having Neville as a friend, he did not question Harry's knowledge of the castle corridors. Harry tried to play it up that he had studied a map of the school and made a show of going down the wrong corridor every once in awhile, though he never intentionally went down the third floor corridor. Maybe he would just have to hear what was behind the door, but the bottom fell out of his stomach when he realized that Hagrid wasn't here to supply Fluffy. Would Dumbledore have gotten an even more dangerous creature to take its place?

He looked upon Quirrell with a considerable amount of distrust and dreamed up ways of pulling the turban off. He would have to discuss with Cloud ways of untying that thing without being suspicious. For now, he spent Defense Against the Dark Arts writing down every defensive spell he could think of, so the he could get back to relearning them now that he was back at Hogwarts. He could foresee spending much of his time in the Room of Requirement.

Harry bumped into Hermione just before lunch on Tuesday.

"Hermione! Good to see you! How are you?"

"Harry! It's nice to see you!"

"How do you like being in Ravenclaw?"

She grinned broadly. "It's wonderful! Everyone's so polite! I was talking about muggle science at the table last night and some of the older 'claws asked me about it. It turns out that they barely cover science here. Can you imagine?! I had no idea! I mean, it's so fundamental to the world, even the wizarding world, and they don't have a basic knowledge of science? I was stunned."

"Really? Wow, I guess I hadn't thought about it."

"I brought along some books on space and animals, since those are some of my favorite subjects, and loaned them out. They hadn't even realized that muggles had actually stepped foot on the moon! Then a debate started on whether it'd be possible to apparate to the moon. I don't know a whole lot about Apparition, but they explained the general concept, and I explained that it might be theoretically possible to apparate to the moon, but they've have to be an awful lot closer to the moon. As it stands, the moon is 384,300 km from Earth. They couldn't even fathom that number."

"It is pretty staggering," Harry replied. Inwardly he was smiling at such an outpour of enthusiasm, but he did wonder if the Hat made the right choice in feeding her frenzy. If she weren't careful, she'd end up buried beneath a pile of books bigger than the ones she'd surrounded herself with in third year.

He kept an eye on Daphne Greengrass, but she kept to herself for the time being. As far as he knew, she'd only said a total of five words to anyone in Gryffindor Tower, but otherwise kept to a corner of the common room that Harry remembered being Hermione's corner in third year. Gryffindors, for the most part, avoided her, which Harry thought was rather sad, but at least they weren't bullying her.

The only class he seemed not to have retained any information from was Herbology. He had studied up enough to get by during school, but he found the skills it taught excessive rather than essential. If there was one thing that excited him about Herbology, it's that they had it with the Hufflepuffs. Harry made sure to get an area close to Ron, Justin, and Ernie.

"Ever done gardening before?" Harry asked aloud.

"I love gardening. We have a greenhouse at the manor," Neville said with a small smile. "I help the house elf take care of the plants."

"We grow some vegetables at home," Ron said, "but the closest I get to gardening is tossing the gnomes over the fence."

"Tossing gnomes?" Harry asked, trying to stifle a laugh as Professor Sprout walked in.

"Yeah, nasty little buggers. We could exterminate them, but mum doesn't seem to have the heart."

"That actually sounds like fun," Justin said excitedly.

"Maybe the first time, but when you do it every weekend it tends to lose its luster," Ron replied.

Harry's heart swelled. This Ron was almost just like his best friend. He wanted so dearly to throw an arm around his shoulder, but he was on the other side of the work bench. Even so there were odd things that niggled at the back of Harry's mind. Ron was always stuck with hand-me-downs from his five older brothers, but while his dragon hide gloves did seem to be seconds, his robes were actually kempt and nice and not short on the sleeve as they usually were. While Ron hadn't exactly been sloppy with his appearance, he actually had a close cropped haircut, undoubtedly cut short for the school year. Were the Weasley's in a better financial position this time around? He hoped that was the case.

He knew some things, but gardening had never been his strong suit, but thankfully Neville took to gardening like a fish takes to water. He was exceedingly helpful and Harry once again felt a pang of regret at not having him as a closer friend sooner. Now that he thought about it, Neville hadn't really had the truest of friends for several years in Gryffindor house. No one to consistently help him with his homework or praise him for his talents. For the first time, Harry felt wretchedly self-absorbed with his inability to include Neville.

The week flew by and soon enough they were trudging down the stairs to the dungeons for their first potion lessons. Neville was already nervous and had been virtually trembling at breakfast, while the Weasley twins continued to regale him with stories that were at least a little embellished. Harry felt he could handle Snape this time around without too much fuss, but he was concerned about Neville. It wasn't for nothing that Neville's boggart had been Snape, which Harry found was rather telling.

He had just learned the truth a few months ago that Snape had actually been a true ally from the start and while that did color his memories of the potions master a bit differently, it didn't change the fact that he was a horrible teacher - to the Gryffindors - and had a penchant for bullying children, which was rather pathetic.

"It'll be alright, Neville."

"Oh, I'm so clumsy, I"ll never -"

"Don't put yourself down. You can do this. When you start to feel overwhelmed, take some deep breaths and let them go. When you breathe out, breathe out your fears."

"Huh. Will that really work?"

"It does. I learned some meditation techniques to deal with my aunt and uncle. I do have a bit of a temper, so I've been trying to not be so hot-headed. It helps me cool off." He felt a pang at the half-truth. "I"ll also be there to help you out. Try not to worry."

Telling him was one thing though and his friend practically squeaked when Snape threw open the door and swooped in, with his signature cloak bellowing behind him. He went through role call, just like last time, and just like last time he paused at Harry's name and made a snide remark.

Harry just stood at his desk with his hands neatly folded and tried to look at Snape respectfully. If there was any emotion traceable in him, it was exasperation, but using the meditation techniques Cloud had taught him, he siphoned away his emotion and was able to keep calm. Just as before, Snape railed him with questions a third year wouldn't even know, but he had the answers this time and repeated them back.

Snape's mouth curled into a sneer. "Think you're clever, Potter?"

"No, sir, I just wanted to be prepared. I've never known magic and I was afraid of being left behind."

Draco, Theo, and the two goons all sniggered at his supposed confession, but he let it wash off him like water off a duck's back.

"There is a powerful potion that, when created under careful conditions, allows you to take the appearance of another. What is it?"

Harry felt a creeping sense of smugness and opened his mouth to answer, when a thought struck him. Hermione had found the Polyjuice Potion in the Restricted Section. He almost certainly would _never_ have crossed those lines in his short time here. Considering how dangerous Hogwarts considered it, he doubted he'd be able to find any other mention outside of Borgan  & Burkes. His jaw snapped shut and he said, "I don't know, sir."

"It seems you have a limit to even your _expansive_ knowledge. And for the record, it is known as Polyjuice Potion. It is so complicated, that only those who complete an O in potions can be expected to brew it halfway competently. Five points for your cheek, Potter."

Harry had to work hard to keep from rolling his eyes. Same old Snape. Neville moaned in fear and panic beside him, and he reached over to pat his friend on the arm. "Deep breaths."

Snape started them on a the simple boil cure potion and seemed to take the extra effort to snipe at Harry, which he didn't appreciate since it made Neville quiver in fear and forget what he was doing. Harry had to intervene at least once when Neville incorrectly added too many snake fangs to the scale. He insisted on being the custodian of the potion when it came time to add the porcupine quills, making sure the burner was off to prevent his cauldron from melting.

They were able to leave Potions that day without a disaster and Neville going to the hospital wing, so Harry considered that a successful end to the first week. Neville, however, seemed less pleased and was morose as they walked up into the daylight.

"I'm sorry for being such a klutz."

"Hmm?" Harry asked, blinking at Neville.

"You really saved me there a few times with the potions ingredients. I've heard potions can be tricky to brew, because there can be some dangerous side effects if brewed wrong, but you were there to help keep it straight. It feels like you did more work than me."

"We're partners, Neville. We look out for each other. Snape was really mean for constantly lurking over you."

"Mean to me?" Neville asked incredulously. "He was the one who kept making horrible comments about your work when you were the one actually doing good."

Harry just shrugged. "I've had to deal with bullies like that all my life. It wasn't a problem."

They went to lunch. Neville still seemed depressed about the day, but Harry was cheerful and tried to talk up Quiddith starting up soon. His own mood dipped a little when he remembered that he only got on the team before by catching Neville's Remembrall. Neville didn't deserve to have a horrific crash and go to the hospital wing just so he could get on the Gryffindor team again. He was going to do his best to keep Neville out of trouble this time.

"Mr. Potter, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office after lunch," Professor McGonagall said from behind him.

He gave her a rather quizzical look. Neville looked like a Dementor had touched him.

"Is there anything wrong, Professor?"

"I am unaware of the nature of what he wants to discuss with you."

If Snape had been angry about his behavior in potions, he might have gone to McGonagall about it, but she was well aware of his innate bias against Gryffindors and probably wouldn't take him seriously. In the pensieve of Snape's memories, he'd gone to Dumbledore and griped about him to Dumbledore. But that Dumbledore, or Cloud now as it were, had merely waved away his complaints. This Dumbledore may not have and Cloud had cautioned him to be wary of his other self.

"Err..thanks, professor. I'll be sure to head up after lunch."

After she left, Neville cried, "You're going to be expelled."

"Don't be ridiculous, Neville. There was absolutely nothing that happened in Potions class that would get me expelled."

Despite his confident tone, his feet felt like like lead as he trudged up toward Dumbledore's office. He wondered how he was going to prevent Dumbledore from reading his mind without looking suspicious. An eleven-year-old wasn't supposed to know Occlumency, especially not one who had never actually grown up around magic. He hoped he would have nothing to worry about. Before he reached Dumbledore's hallway, he organized his thoughts so that it focused on the lessons for the week.

He went up to the gargoyle and said the password that Professor McGonagall had just told him, "Licorice Wand." It slid aside and he stepped onto the ascending staircase. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, but he could feel his heartbeat in his ears and his palms were sweating. He discreetly tried to wipe them on his robes before he reached the top.

Just as he was about to knock on the door, the same cheery voice that he had trusted for most of his school years called out, "Come in!"

Harry opened the door and walked in, looking around the office in curiousity. It looked as it had in his other life. Granted, he hadn't exactly been able to memorize every item the Headmaster had owned, but it seemed the same. There were the same silver instruments propped up on a shelf behind his desk and Fawkes was sitting in the corner, currently looking beautiful and healthy.

"Ah, Harry, my boy, it's good to see you."

"You as well, Professor," Harry replied, meeting his eyes. He had tensed up in uncertainty at whether this Dumbledore would probe his mind, but he didn't feel anything like what Snape did when he invaded his mind when he was trying to poorly teach him Occlumency, but Cloud warned him that his counterpart would probably be more delicate. "Errr...am I in trouble?"

"Of course not! No need to be alarmed. Please, take a seat," Albus replied, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. "I was curious to see how you were settling in at Hogwarts."

"Fine, sir. The classes are fun, but I am eager to get further into the lessons where we'll learn more difficult spells," Harry replied. He hoped he didn't look suspicious.

"Very good. So far, I've heard nothing but good things from your professors."

Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so? I was under the impression that I left Professor Snape with a negative opinion of me."

"Professor Snape, Harry, is a special case. He takes the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor particularly to heart."

"Oh, so then does Professor Mcgonagall treat Slytherins the same in her class?"

"My boy, a rivalry like that between Slytherin and Gryffindor dates back all the way to the Founders."

Harry frowned. "Is that all you wished to ask of me?"

"You're in a rather unique position here, Harry."

"How so?"

"You're going to be coming into your own and I just want you to know that if you need help, any at all, don't hesitate to ask."

"Ask you?"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Of course, I would not be in my position without a great deal of knowledge at my disposal." At Harry's seeming befuddlement, he said, "It's merely an offer. Now, it's such a beautiful day outside, I daresay you'll want to enjoy it with your friends."

Harry left hoping he didn't look as troubled as he felt.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes:** Hello, everybody! I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. I apologize for not posting this on Saturday like I normally would, but I was busy. Please forgive me?

Once again, I would like to thank you all of your support! We've almost got 16K views and nearly 200 people have added this fiction to their alerts. That's amazing! I really enjoy reading your reviews and seeing all the activity that this story generates.

Please enjoy the next chapter!

 **Chapter 15**

"He said that, did he?"

"Yes. I don't like this Dumbledore. You left me alone to be a normal kid. Thanks for that."

"That's what I wanted for you most of all. Life intervened," Cloud said with a sigh.

Harry had rushed back to Gryffindor common room after his meeting with Dumbledore. He greeted his fellow Gryffindors, but excused himself, claiming he needed to feed his cat. They went to the Room of Requirement as quickly as possible. Thankfully, it was not an often used corridor and almost everyone had either poured outside to enjoy the beautiful weather or had to attend their afternoon classes. He customized the room to not allow intruders. They both now lounged in a room with squishy chairs, a sofa, and a plethora of pillows.

"It sounds like he's buttering you up to be manipulated later. Children are, unfortunately, susceptible to that."

"But why? What does he hope to accomplish?"

"His goals are most likely political. Remember, the Potters are a powerful family. And who would work against the Boy Who Lived? Those against you would be presumed to be former Death Eaters, whether they were or not.

"That hasn't seemed to stop Lucius Malfoy."

"That's because he buys influence by making generous donations. It's why he's the face of the Purist Party Even so, the lesser houses can't afford that kind of voice."

"So, can we know what political issue he's hoping to push?"

"That's difficult to say," Cloud replied, swiping his tail in frustration. "I have a difficult time believing he would so blatantly have a meeting with you just to get on the right side of you. He was probably gauging your intelligence."

Harry frowned and thought back. His first year before was so long ago that things he never thought he'd forget seemed to be slipping out of his grasp. He remembered having a high opinion of Dumbledore(Cloud) before he even got to school. He finally touched upon the memory he had been searching for. "I liked you before I even got to school because Hagrid told me all about you."

"Did he really?"

"Well, sure. He gave Dudley a Pig's tail because Uncle Vernon insulted you."

Cloud dipped his head. "I knew Hagrid was a passionate man, but I never expected him to do something like that."

"You didn't know?"

"No, I only asked how well your trip went when he came back from Diagon Alley. He was not ordered to sing my praises, he was just supposed to get you...and pick up the stone of course." Cloud paused for a moment. "On second thought that rather does sound like Hagrid. He always loved talking about you over the summers."

Harry felt the blood rise in his checks. "He did?"

"Oh, yes, he was immensely proud to have you as a friend."

Almost at once, Harry felt an appreciation for Hagrid as well as an immense guilt. "Poor Hagrid. I've barely thought about him."

"There's nothing you can do for him right now. We need to focus on the present if we want to address Hagrid's situation in the future. We need to get an idea of what's going on politically. We already know someone who would be happy to fill us in on such topics."

"Who?" Harry asked, but it clicked at almost the exact same time. "Daphne?"

"Her family was politically motivated in the last timeline and if her sorting is any indication, then they're politically active in this one as well. Try to approach her as a friend. If that fails, then we need only remind her of the political benefits her family stands to gain."

Harry scowled. "Really? Why can't friends just be friends?"

"I understand this is frustrating, but unfortunately necessary. I kept abreast of the issues in the other time, but I can't do that anymore. You have to."

"Alright, I'll see about talking to Daphne."

"Very good. And while you're at it, maybe you should write a letter to Ginny? Your window to contact her is closing. You don't have to, but if you're really serious about this.."

"I will," Harry said with a sigh. It wasn't like he didn't desperately want to talk to her, but her death continued to loom large in his dreams. _It would probably be better for her if I never met her,_ he thought gloomily. He wrestled with himself on more than one occasion about this. He'd brought it up to Cloud once and the cat said that Ginny was perfectly capable of making her own decisions. Harry couldn't argue with that. It was one of the things he liked most about her. Now that he'd agreed to write her, he pushed it out of his mind and asked a question he'd been dying to ask all week. "So what have you been doing?"

"Familiarizing myself with the castle once more."

"Anything different?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Dozens of students have been outside the forbidden third floor corridor, most notably the Weasley twins. I can't say I'm surprised."

"Well, you announced it to the whole school, even in this timeline. Why did you do that?"

"Admittedly, it was mostly to pique your interest in particular. As you are aware from Severus' pensieve, I had already suspected Quirrel got himself mixed up into something dangerous. I must admit, I didn't expect him to actually bring Voldemort into the castle." They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Cloud suddenly broke it: "We can't let Voldemort get anywhere near that stone."

"I know, Cloud. I was thinking we could pull Quirrel's turban off in the middle of the Great Hall. That'd prevent Voldemort from getting to it."

Cloud perked up. "That's a wonderful idea, though we have to be careful. It would cause a panic and the people would know that Voldemort's not quite dead."

"Good! Maybe this time Fudge will actually take Voldemort's real return seriously this time," Harry replied darkly.

"It's worth a try. Now, any idea how you'll get it off without raising suspicion?"

"Do you think it matters?"

"Absolutely. You could be asked how you knew Voldemort was there."

Harry thought for a moment and said, "I can't just tell them that my scar hurts whenever he's around, can I?"

"I don't think I need to remind you about Cornelius' reaction to hearing you had pains in your scar that warn you of Voldemort's plans. He wouldn't be an outlier. You need a plausible alibi."

"Hmm...I'll have to think about it."

"In the meantime, I'd like to look at what's behind the door to the third floor corridor. We need to know what the first line of defense is."

"You're barmy," Harry blurted out.

"We need to know what creature - if there even is a creature - that guards the stone. Last time it took Voldemort all year to figure out how to get past Fluffy. What if it's an even easier creature to overcome? It has to be something that a first year could reasonably get past, probably."

"Would you really do that?"

"Harry, that trap was initially meant to try your strength. Magical creatures are dangerous. It was pure luck at finding a cerberus that instantly falls asleep at the first notes of music."

"When do you want to do that?" Harry asked, hesitantly.

"Within the next week. The trouble will be getting around Argus and his cat, Mrs. Norris." Cloud's expression became glaring and he said, "You know his cat followed me around for almost an entire day once, like she was expecting _me_ to make trouble. I had to swipe her across the face to get her off my back."

Harry smirked. "Now you know how some of the students feel."

"I think the best time to try might be before breakfast any day this week. Argus goes to sleep in the early hours, since he's usually patrolling the corridors at night. Monday might be best." Harry shook his head. "What is it?"

"It's so weird hearing you, of all people, talking so casually about breaking the rules."

"I, more often than naught, awarded you points for breaking the rules," Cloud replied ruefully. "It's been an hour. The Gryffindors might be wondering where you are."

Harry paled. "Fred and George are supposed to have my father's map by now. Hopefully they're not following me too closely."

"We best leave then."

Upon reaching a fork in the hallway, Cloud wandered off.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Harry called out after him, but as they were now out in public, Cloud merely flicked his tail and kept on going. Harry sighed and made his way back to the common room. He should probably get started on his letter to Ginny.

Neville was in the common room when he walked through. Harry suggested that they might explore the castle when he was done with his letter, so that Neville can become more familiar and hopefully less forgetful. The boy seemed cheered by the idea, so Harry got a piece of parchment and a quill and began writing.

It took a few iterations and he had a feeling that when he asked any of the Weasley boys about mailing their sister, they were certainly going to read it. He had to leave the letter pretty bare anyway, since he couldn't tell her about how he was actually from the future.

 _Hello Ginny,_

 _This is Harry Potter. I am writing to you because the last time we met I had to leave in a hurry and I realize I scared you. Once again, I'd like to apologize for that. It was not my intention to alarm you._

 _I hope you're doing well!_

 _From,_

 _Harry_

Now the trick was getting past her brothers. Harry considered going through Percy, because he would likely be the quickest to approve without too much fuss, but the twins had been his friends in the original timeline and he didn't want them to think he deliberately deceived them by going through Percy. They would prank him mercilessly for it. Best to get that pain out of the way.

He didn't see them until the sun was setting. They were in a corner of the common room, chatting with their friend Lee Jordan. Harry hesitated for only a moment, clutching the letter even closer, but he steeled himself and walked over to them. Lee Jordan saw him first and nudged the closest twin - whom he thought was Fred - and they all turned to look at him. As per usual, the twins eyes glinted mischievously.

"Well, if it isn't ickle Harrykins. What could the Boy Who Lived possibly have to do with us?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. They had usually been the first people in Gryffindor Tower to treat him like a normal person. He was rather curious what he could've done to get on their bad side so quickly. Or maybe it was simply because he wasn't friends with Ron yet.

"Hello! You have a sister named, Ginny, right?"

This certainly got their interest and they sat up and eyed him. "Yes, what of it?"

"Well, I met your sister on the train platform and I scared her. I wanted to send a letter apologizing to her."

"Scared her how?" He could see the big brother protective mode come on in both of them.

"I called her by name before she actually told me what it was. I'd heard one of you call her by name and I accidentally used it. She seemed...very freaked out."

"More like she was totally smitten with the Boy Who Lived even knowing she had a name." They chuckled and Harry blushed.

"The point is, I want to send her a letter to apologize since I had to rush for the train. I thought it would be more appropriate to ask you if I could send my letter than just doing it."

"Do you want to kill our little sister?"

"Because that might do it."

"Getting a personal letter from her hero."

"She might actually die of shock."

They laughed about it for a few minutes before standing up. "Fine, we'll let you send a letter. But we get to read it first."

Harry handed them the letter and they both read it over. They nodded sagely, glancing at each other as though they were telepathic. Harry honestly wouldn't have been surprised if they were.

"This seems innocent enough. I'll take you to the Owlery. We wouldn't want any funny business."

Harry glanced between Fred and George and nodded. "Alright, let's go. Hey, Neville, you should come to the Owlery with us."

"You sure, Harry?"

"Of course. I said we'd explore the castle after my letter, right?"

"Okay, that sounds great. I should know where it is so I can send my gran a letter."


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry for missing a week! Truly, I am. This was a difficult chapter to write. I was halfway through it, when I decided that I wanted to go a different way with it and pretty much had to rewrite it. Thank you all still so much for your support! It's wonderful to hear your thoughts on this! Please enjoy.

Also, this chapter is hot of the presses and hasn't really been edited. Please forgive any typos.

 **Chapter 16**

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes, Cloud," Harry replied through gritted teeth as he peered down the dark third floor corridor. It was the hour before breakfast on Monday, so they felt safe enough to whisper to each other outside of the Room of Requirement. Harry, however, was running on a short fuse.

When Fred had escorted him to the Owlery to send his letter to Ginny, George had stayed behind and trapped his bed with itching powder. Harry spent the next two days being driven mad with the itching, day and night. He did his best to ignore the twins the next time they saw him, but they looked insufferably smug. He vowed his revenge.

Cloud had woken him up earlier to see what was behind the door of the third floor corridor. He didn't want to put it off any longer and Harry begrudgingly agreed.

The white cat hurried on ahead as Harry stared after him warily. He felt so blind without the map. He expected, Snape, Mcgonagall or Filch to turn the corner any moment, but the halls were silent. It was unnerving. Cloud sniffed the area, then turned and waved a paw. Harry quickly tiptoed down to him.

"Now, just open the door enough to let me in. I'll let you know if I think it's safe enough."

"Like whatever's there won't gobble you in one bite," Harry grumbled, but he pulled out his wand and said, " _Alohomora._ " Just as before, the lock clicked open. Harry pulled it open gently. His knuckles were white and sweat beaded his forehead as he waited on tenterhooks, while Cloud slipped in.

Harry's heart bounded against his ribs as he struggled to hear beyond the door. He expected to hear Cloud scream and either tear out of there or hear the sick crunch of bones, but as the seconds ticked by, all he heard was the suffering pall of silence.

"You can come in," Cloud said, but there was something about his voice that Harry had never heard from him before. It sounded something like awe.

Harry quickly glanced left and right and opened up the door enough to slide in. He shut the door and then turned to investigate the room. His breath left him in a soft gasp and he practically fell against the door as soon as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

 _It's a dragon!_

It did not fill the corridor as fully as Fluffy - it seemed quite slim by comparison - but there was no mistaking a wolfish quality to its snout. When it shifted he saw claws the size of pocket knives scrape along the floor. However it didn't move from the place that it was curled up on the floor. In fact, it cocked its head inquisitively at him.

"Relax. It won't hurt us."

"How do you know that?"

"I...I can't say. It's more of a feeling, really. The fact that he hasn't attacked us yet, however, is a promising sign," Cloud replied, trotting over to the dragon, his tail standing straight up as though it were waving a white flag for peace.

Harry flinched when the dragon bent its head down to him, expecting it to snatch Cloud up, but it sniffed at him, inhaling deeply, before rumbling in a way that sounded like a cat's purr. He pulled his way from the wall and took a cautious step toward it, raising his wand, and whispering, " _Lumos!_ "

It was unlike any dragon he had ever seen. He expected to see light glinting off its scales, but as he approached he was surprised to find it was _feathered_ from head to tail. Aside from the snout full of teeth, there were two protruding horns, tinged light yellow in the gold light that made it draconic. He took another step and felt a gentle warmth wash over him which he likened to Fawkes.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure. While Professor Scamander did well describing many of the magical creatures in the world, he did not reach all of them. This could be one such creature. Or this is a creature new to this world. As you can tell, it clearly means us no harm. It seems to be able to sense evil. No wonder this Dumbledore would trust having such a creature in the castle; it's practically guaranteed not to eat a student."

"Unless the student had evil intentions?"

"The only student that came close to that was Tom Riddle himself," Cloud said sharply. "Few children are capable of malice like what he has. Either way, Voldemort will have some difficulty getting past this."

"You think?"

"It's a dragon, Harry. It may lack the scales, but I'm sure it has similar magical resistance. All magical creatures do. Even he would need half a dozen wizards or witches to stun it."

"How can you know this when you don't know what it is?" He had approached close enough that the dragon changed its attention to him. It's dark eyes regarded him for a moment, but he saw no malice and he tentatively reached out toward it. It sniffed him gingerly, before it rumbled once more and nudged his hand. Now that he was closer, he could see large bird-like wings curled into its body and its colors were earthy - light brown with dark stripes, and a cream underbelly.

"It's the same way with muggles. As I understand it there's a classification system that names an animal based on hierarchies of information pertaining to its origin. It has all the hallmarks of a dragon without the aggression. It's quite a marvelous creature, is it not?"

"Yeah," Harry said in a whisper, stroking the brow of the creature, marveling at the soft mixture of fur and feathers he found instead of the hard, unyielding scales. He relaxed and continued to stroke its fur, taking note of an interesting mane of feathers on its neck.

"Harry? Harry!"

"Hmm?" The boy finally wrenched his eyes from it and turned to Cloud, who was giving him a suspicious look.

"We should leave. Argus could be here any minute. You also need to get to breakfast and class."

Harry pulled away reluctantly and the warmth that had filled his soul suddenly left, leaving him a tad empty. _What creature is this?_ He thought, looking back at it before opening the door and sidling out, glancing down the corridor to make sure it was clear.

"We should find out what that creature is," Cloud hissed at him. In the next instant though he meowed and headed off on his own, to where, Harry didn't know, but his mind was on the dragon all the way down to breakfast.

/\/\/\/\

A few days later, Harry was chewing at his lips more than at his breakfast. They were going to learn to fly today. The flying lessons and the pressing issue of finding out about the dragon had been warring within him all week and he still and no solid ideas on either. At the very least, he was going to suggest Neville leave his Remembrall, but that still wouldn't save the poor boy from a broken wrist. He just hoped he could perhaps coach him enough, but he was also supposed to have never touched a broom. He was at a loss.

Neville's owl swooped down with the package in question and Neville eagerly ripped it open, to reveal the smoky glass ball.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"It's a Remembrall. See, you hold it like this and if it goes red - " Neville faltered when it turned scarlet "- t-then it means you've forgotten something."

Like clockwork, Malfoy and his two goons decided to take a detour and snatched the Remembrall out of Neville's hand. Harry leapt to his feet, his wand already gripped tightly in his hand, "Malfoy -"

"Trouble here, boys?" Flitwick appeared in a timely manner.

"He took my Remembrall, professor," Neville cried out.

"I was just looking at it," Draco said and set it back down none too gently.

When they had all wandered off, Harry said, "Maybe you should leave that in your room. I mean, we're going flying today. What if it falls out of your pocket and you break it?"

Neville paled. "My gran would be so cross with me. You're right. I should take it back up, but...I'll be late to class."

"Or keep it in your bag. Just...you probably shouldn't have it on you."

"Good idea," Neville replied and obligingly put it in his bag.

Harry felt his heart wrench. The contrast of the Neville he encountered before he died and this one was almost more than he could bare. He was clearly troubled and lacking in confidence. His wand sparked and sputtered at every command he uttered. Neville would not - could not - take a step closer to that strong, charismatic leader until he had a working wand. He needed to coax Neville to write that letter soon.

It wasn't long before they were out on the fields of Hogwarts, where the school's terrible brooms lay. Harry looked longingly at them all the same. He felt like he hadn't touched a broom in years and certainly not out of anything but necessity.

Madam Hooch commanded them as before. Harry whispered words of encouragement to Neville, but he was pale and sweaty, looking like a deer in headlights.

" _Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two - "_

Harry reached out to touch Neville on the shoulder, to steady him, but Neville pushed off the ground early and felt his robes slip through his fingers. "Neville," Harry shouted, just barely seeing the frightened eyes of Neville as he looked back. He listed sideways and then his hands slipped and he fell. He hit the ground with a whump and everyone on Gryffindor flinched. Harry rushed over to him with Madam Hooch just ahead of him.

"Broken wrist," Madam Pomfrey said, helping Neville up to his feet.

"Will he be alright, Professor?" Harry said, even though he knew Madam Pomfrey would heal it in a trice.

"Don't you worry, boy, Madam Pomfrey is quite good." She raised her voice as she turned to lead Neville away. "I am taking this poor boy to the Infirmary. You are to all stay firmly on the ground. If I catch any of you in the air, you'll be out of Hogwarts faster than you can say Quidditch."

Harry sighed. He had really hoped to avoid that catastrophe this time. At least Neville didn't have his Remembrall for Malfoy to steal.

As soon as they entered Hogwarts, Malfoy barked out a laughter and said, "Did you see his fat face? Maybe if he'd had his Remembrall, he could have given it a squeeze and remembered to fall on his fat arse!"

"That's enough, Malfoy," Harry snarled, stepping up to glare the pompous idiot down.

"What are you going to do about it, Potter?"

"I'll hex your pretty face, if you don't shut it."

"You couldn't hex a cat."

"Why would he, Malfoy? I doubt Mr. Potter is so needlessly cruel. Can't say the same for you, I'm afraid," Daphne spoke up coolly. She and Tracy had been standing slightly apart from both houses, but she held her chin up to stare directly down her nose.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco snarled. "I'd never hurt an animal."

"There's a situation where those often accuse others of what they themselves do. It's called projection. If you'd never hurt an animal...then why even suggest it?"

"I...its...gaah! We're not done here, Greengrass. My father will hear about this!"

"Yes, go crawl behind daddy. It would behoove you to stand on your own two feet."

Malfoy was practically spitting venom, but nothing coherent came out and he eventually stomped away, with Slytherins giving Daphne cutting looks.

"Great. They'll be absolutely unbearable in the common room," Tracey grumbled.

"Sorry, Tracey, but someone needs to put him in his place."

"He's absolutely unbearable. All he does is gloat or talk shit on, Potter. It got old after the first week."

"Language," Daphne teased.

"Daphne?" They turned to see Harry. "Thanks. Someone's got to put that arse in his place."

She stiffened and narrowed her eyes at him, apparently searching for an ulterior motive. Just as he was walking away, she said, "You're welcome."

 **Author's Notes:** I cannot claim this type of dragon. I borrowed it from a pet breeding website that I frequent called Khimeros. For reference, copy/paste this website into a tab: khimeros/khimeras/614/614306. png

Remember to delete the spaces.

Also, I would like to remind folks that this is a Harry/Ginny romance fic. I'm prepping Daphne to be his friend, not his love interest. Don't look too hard into this.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** I LIVE! And so does this fic. I promise, I didn't abandon it. As far as story plans go, this area was murkier and less planned and thus took longer. I'm sorry! Thank you, everyone, for your support with favoriting, alerting, and reviewing this fiction! It means a lot to me! We've almost broken 22K views and more than 200 people have added this fic to their alerts. Wow!

Nath Tsubasa Evans - Thank you for your review!

SmilineAnne - Is Dumbledore/Cloud Harry's companion? This chapter actually answers that question. Hopefully, I've written it clearly enough so that it's not muddled.

 **Chapter 17**

Cloud stared up at the third floor corridor door, swishing his tail back and forth. He was restless.

Restless wasn't a common emotion he felt. The last time had been after the sudden death of his mother, when he was forced to cancel his Grand Tour with Elphias Doge, to take care of his wayward brother and ill sister. That had been wanderlust and it hadn't ended well. He refused to feel it since then. Of course, his positions as Head of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump had afforded him the opportunity to travel, but he never actively sought it out.

It wasn't wanderlust that was plaguing him now. It was a restless frustration. Initially, being without magic had not been handicapping. He could transform into animals and traveled to a muggle area where magic was forbidden anyway. However, now that he was back in the castle, every single door raised his ire. Back when he was human, he simply could will doors open. Now, he needed a human for what used to be the simplest action.

All he wanted to do was see the dragon. The fact that he had never seen anything like it made it a singularly interesting subject. He also got the feeling of a kindred spirit and he was interested in determining whether the dragon was the dead given form like him, or if it was simply an old soul. Admittedly, he was leaning more towards the latter.

Despite his frustrations with a lack of magic, his cat sensibilities to magic were unlike anything he had ever felt as a human. Minerva had often praised and admired cats for such sensitivities, but since cats lacked the finesse and vocal chords to explain them in detail, he and his fellow wizards had taken the proclamation for granted.

He felt he had good instincts as a human, but a cat's were unparalleled. He could smell every individual scent, further enhanced by their magical signature. It wasn't just a matter of telling that a dark-haired boy had climbed the stairs a few hours ago. He could actually see the image of the boy in question in his mind, based on his magical signature. The boy in question had been Hufflepuff Cedric Diggory and he had just cast a successful summoning charm. It was no wonder Mrs. Norris caught children doing magic in the halls all the time.

 _Is this how Minerva feels every time she becomes a cat?_ He thought as he once again wandered off, glancing back at the door longingly. He may have to ask Harry to let him in, but he was doing his best to keep the boy away from the area. It wouldn't do to be caught snooping around. He seriously doubted that even this Dumbledore would expel the saviour of wizarding kind, but rules were rules.

Just like Harry, he was impatient to get on with defeating Voldemort, properly this time. He hid it better, but knowing they had to wait at least four years before Harry was in a powerful enough position, was agonizing, especially since he was limited to primarily a mentorship role. _I just have to keep doing what I can to help._ They spent their Saturday mornings looking up new spells and trying them. The first spell Harry wished to master was the Patronus Charm. While Cloud didn't manage to talk him out of learning that one yet ("I hate to say this, Harry, but you still have to work another year at it for it to be effective. You should reasonably expect to kill Voldemort before you must encounter dementors"), he did at least encourage him to broaden his focus on more than just one spell. He could already reliably cast a stunning spell, but it was difficult to determine how powerful it actually was. He was pleased to see how much more seriously Harry was now taking his education and he swelled with pride at the way Harry worked to teach Neville.

He hoped people saw much earlier how amazing Harry was as a person and not be blinded by simple hero worship.

"How goes you, outsider cat?"

Cloud jumped and instinctively raised his fur and hissed. He had been so caught up in his thoughts, he he hadn't paid attention to the smells and the movement his whiskers picked up. When he got a proper look at the cat staring down at him from the top of the stairs, he felt his heart hammer harder in his chest.

Minerva.

So much of her human mannerisms came through. Her stare, especially as a cat was imperious and cutting. She flicked her tail languidly, ever the professor in charge of every situation.

It was impossible not to run into her, but he was still unsure how to approach her. All the cats at the school formed a colony and the few interactions he'd had with the other cats, he knew that Minerva was queen of the colony. He had tried to fly under the radar, but as a deliberate outcast, it was bound to get him attention eventually.

"Is there a reason you were down there?"

"New smells, strange smells," he replied. Cats had a strange way of talking to one another. The most complicated gestures were purely in body language and were entirely over territorial disputes. He was still learning them, but since he avoided the other cats, his lessons were slow. He should have known Minerva wouldn't bother adapting the cat language, but he hoped he could pull off layman cat's language.

"True enough," she chirped back at him.

He thought of something then. "Predator smells. Danger. Food danger."

"The feathered beast? It's not for eating and will not eat cats."

"Queen cat knows?"

She was smirking at him. "Peculiar cat, outsider cat."

He noticed the guard rail collapse into the wall and he bolted for the stairs, landing on it just as it began to move. He had to leave before Minerva got too curious and then, hopefully, avoid her in the future. When he finally stopped running, she was nowhere to be seen and he breathed easier. He started his wandering again and hadn't gotten more than a few steps when a thought crossed his mind, causing him to freeze. She had referred to him as 'you' and he had answered! Cats weren't intelligent enough to have a sense of self! _I am a fool,_ he berated himself.

He could tell himself that perhaps she hadn't noticed, but it was a fool's hope. Nothing escaped her notice. He would have to be even more careful now, but...he was beginning to think that keeping a secret as massive as him becoming a cat, might slip out sooner rather than later. He would have to warn, Harry!

He hurried off back to the Gryffindor common room.

/\/\/\/\

The morning had started off normal enough, but Harry had been surprised when a barn owl swooped in for him, dropping a letter into his plate.

He frowned as the owl winged away; Hedwig would never have damaged his letter. At the thought of her, swallowed back a wave of sadness as he fished out the letter. He studied it carefully and then his eyes widened comically and didn't hesitate to rip it open.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Thank you so much for your letter! Try not to let my brothers get to you. I'm sure they pulled some kind of prank on you. They're like that. I'll be happy to give suggestions on ways to get back at them. You learn how to defend yourself when you're around boys all your life._

 _I admit, I was shocked when you said my name, but I understand now. It was an accident. I don't feel like you needed to apologize for that, but I appreciate your letter all the same!_

 _How are your classes? Do you like Hogwarts? My brothers are terrible at writing meaningful letters, besides Percy. His letters are always boring though._

 _Thanks for sending the barn owl. He's quite handsome! What other kind of owls does the school have? I look forward to hearing from you again!_

 _-Ginny_

His heart soared over the clouds like he was on his Nimbus 2000. He could just imagine her voice in his ears and he grinned at the sassy attitude and exasperation over her brothers' antics.

"Wow, you're happy? Must be good news in the letter," Neville said to him, continuing to eat.

"Hmm?" Harry was jarred from his thoughts and said, "Oh yes. I scared one my fans." He felt himself go red in the face. He really hoped he didn't have to refer to Ginny like that for long. "I wrote her a letter of apology and she accepted it. I never realized how nice it was to receive mail. The first letter I got was from Hogwarts."

"Oh, because of your relatives?" Both of them had been very tight-lipped about their family, but Neville did know at least that his muggle relatives were horrible and obviously hadn't treated him too well. "Gran only ever writes to tell me what I should be doing."

"Neville, you're on your own at school here. If you don't want to do something that she suggests, you can always decide not too."

"Oh, it's not always that bad. She really likes you. She keeps telling me to keep up my studies with you and says that I'm sure to be a great wizard if I stick with you."

"You _will_ be a great wizard someday, Neville, and it won't have anything to do with me." That statement was probably inaccurate for this time period, but Neville had turned out to be a great wizard and man without being his friend for several years. He had the guts, he just needed the confidence, and the progress on that front continued to be slow. "'Course, you can only be a great wizard if you have the proper tools. You need to write your Gran and tell her that you need a new wand at Christmas. Studying theory can only get you so far. You need the proper fitting wand to go the rest of the way."

"I guess."

"Just quote, Ollivander: 'the wand chooses the wizard.'"

"Well, I suppose it's worth trying."

"It is. Believe in yourself! I'll help you write it if you like," Harry said, smiling at Neville. Suddenly, he said, "Aaah!" He glanced down to see Cloud clawing at his robes. "Cloud! Stop that! Don't pull holes in my robes!"

Cloud then meowed and blinked twice at him. Harry raised his eyebrows at him, but said, "I already fed you this morning! I have class all day. I'll feed you after. Try some bacon to tide you over."

Harry grabbed a piece of bacon and held it out to him. Cloud snorted at him and gave it a few licks, but had a clear look of displeasure on his face.

"I think he'll like ham more. Do cats really eat bacon?"

"Probably not. Cats can't chew their food." Harry replied, tossing the bacon back onto the table, and then he started shredding a piece of ham, which Cloud greedily took from his fingers. "That should hold him over. Come on, we should get to Defense."

Harry had a difficult time concentrating throughout school, knowing how insistent Cloud had been. It was clear to him that Cloud had something important to say, but missing classes was not a good idea. He was trying to act the model student.

The day was ordinary by wizarding standards, but he wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but McGonagall seemed to linger on him a little more than usual, and her gaze was calculating. He'd never felt that directed at him and did his best to ignore it.

The day ended with time spent in the greenhouse for Herbology. Despite being sweaty and tired, Harry cleaned up quickly and headed for the Room of Requirement. Cloud was already waiting and started meowing insistently at him. He had never paced for the Room of Requirement so quickly.

"Alright, what's so urgent?"

"I...may have blown my cover."

Harry frowned. "How did you manage that?"

"Minerva snuck up on me while I was investigating the third floor corridor."

"Hmm...I wondered why she was looking at me funny today."

"Oh?"

"Her look was a bit sharper than normal and she focused it mainly on me. I wondered what I'd done wrong. Anyway, how do you think you blew your cover?"

"Cats aren't intelligent enough to have a sense of self. They're just not. I answered Minerva's questions like I did."

"You could be more intelligent than the average cat," Harry supplied, but Cloud shook his head.

"No, I doubt that'll throw her off the train. It _might_ be possible, but it would have to be trained. Only a human would instantly recognize a question to self." Cloud sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry. I will have to work even harder to avoid her in the future."

"Is there anything we can do to...I guess mitigate McGonagall's concern."

"Nothing I can think of that wouldn't look _more_ suspicious. I just wanted to warn you so that you could be aware."

"What should I say if McGonagall questions me?"

"Hmm...I'm not sure on that. I was going to say that I was a stray cat that simply found you, but she already suspects that I'm human and something going out of its way to find you would be suspicious."

"Not unless you were my companion."

"That snitch may be caught already. Draco keeps his fruit bat companion on him at all times. In fact, the few students I've seen keep their companions by their side at all times. It would be weird for me to seem suddenly attached to your hip."

"Would it though? Companions are supposed to be able to telepathically connect to their partners? They're also supposed to be more intelligent. Maybe you should _act_ like my companion at the very least."

"You've already told Neville you don't have a companion! Also, Minerva was there when you went through the sanctuary."

"She can't account for my companion finding me. Let's do it. You're to act as my companion from now on."

Cloud sighed. "I...I don't see any other way around this, so sure. I will act as your standing companion."

They were getting ready to leave, when Harry asked, "How long do you think we'll be able to keep this a secret?"

The look Cloud gave him was not particularly hopeful.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note:** Happy weekend, everyone! We've almost breached 25K views! Holy cow, that's a lot! Thank you, everyone for your support, but especially to the reviewers for their kind words and thoughts about the fic. I hope you all continue to enjoy it!

 **Chapter 18**

Harry stared at the parchment in front of him, willing the words to write themselves, but his head felt muddled and he berated himself. _WHY did you not pay better attention while you were here? It's not like your lessons were boring. It would have helped to have an extra bit of knowledge into your thick head._

It was not the first time he had been frustrated with his lack of work ethic in school. He had never been a bad student, but he had never taken pride or even much of an interest in magical abilities that didn't pertain to Charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts or Quidditch. More than once he had marveled at how Hermione had saved him, undoubtedly with her head crammed full of books she felt would prepare them not just for life outside of Hogwarts, but against Voldemort. He was a month into school and already he was stumbling across holes in his knowledge.

McGonagall wanted a parchment long essay on the transference of energy in Transfiguration, how you could minimize the amount of energy required to transfer, but also the weightier physics of the transfiguration spells. The first part had been easy, but the second part was not.

"Any ideas, Harry?" Neville asked. He had their textbook in their lap and was skimming the chapters for what they wanted.

"I'm sorry, Neville, this one escapes me a little bit. Let's figure it out," Harry replied, in a cheery voice and opened his own book. It took all of his efforts to hide the frustration in his voice, so that Neville wouldn't get the wrong idea.

They had to reread the entire chapter, which took an extra hour, and the common room was emptying by the time they started actually writing stuff down. As they were climbing the stairs to bed, Neville said, "Thanks for helping me, Harry."

"Of course. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, just thanks."

"I'm sorry that it took so long."

"That's alright. You can't know everything."

Harry suddenly stopped where he was climbing on the steps and stared at Neville in shock. Neville groaned at himself and said, "I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't mean to offend?"

Harry snapped out of it and said, "What? Neville, you didn't offend. You're brilliant!"

"I am?"

"Yeah! You're right, I can't know everything. We should start a study group! We'll be able to make more friends, hang out with Hermione more, get help with homework that might be easier for other people."

"Oh, that does sound like a good idea. I miss talking to Hermione."

"Me too," Harry replied with a fond smile.

When they finally reached their beds, Neville was asleep within five minutes, but Harry lay under the covers, with his mind buzzing and his heart pounding in excitement. A study group! Why did it take him so long to think of it? They could invite Hermione, Justin Flinch-Fletchley and by extension Ron (though he had Herbology with him, it wasn't enough time to form a lasting friendship), and perhaps also Daphne Greengrass. She still kept almost exclusively to herself, but he had seen the other girls from her room approach her and start a conversation, but though they were short, none of the girls left looking offended or angry. Harry often thought that she looked lonely.

The first thing Harry did the moment he reached breakfast the next morning was to find Hermione at the Ravenclaw table and ask her if she wanted to join their study group. She readily accepted and asked to include Lisa Turpin. He gave her the thumbs up, told her when they would have it, then practically skipped back to the Gryffindor table.

Since he had arrived back at Hogwarts, this was the first time Harry felt like things were back on track. He recalled, with a pang, that he _still_ hadn't investigated the dragon in the third floor corridor, but to be fair to him, it was hard to find the time to research without Neville. He wanted to avoid touching on topics that he wasn't supposed to know about with a someone who wasn't in on the secret, so he had to be patient. As he thought about it, it was rare when Ron hadn't also been following his every step, but his was a secret best kept to himself. It would be safer for Neville and Harry was less likely to end up a patient at St. Mungos.

They had Herbology that day and Harry wasted no time in asking Justin, Ernie, and Ron if they wanted to join their study group. Ron looked skeptical and Harry remembered how reluctant he had been when it came to doing his homework. However, Justin and Ernie happily agreed, so Ron shrugged and accepted with them. Again, Harry felt a pang in his heart that he was more distant with his best mate now than in his previous time line. They used to be united in their dislike of homework and often thought of ways to distract themselves, but this time Harry was determined to not be distracted. He hoped that he and Ron could become friends in spite of his new outlook. Their dislike of homework wasn't the only thing that bound them together after all.

He saved speaking to Daphne for last. He asked Seamus and Dean, but they begged off, preferring to study by themselves. When he asked Parvati, Padma, and Lavender, they all blushed furiously and seemed to throw each other conspiratorial looks, but he was surprised when only Padma accepted and the other two waved off. _Must be the Ravenclaw in her_ , Harry thought as he walked away. He missed Lavender and Parvati staring intensely at Padma with barely concealed grins. Padma scowled in return at them.

Now Harry reached the hardest person to ask: Daphne Greengrass. He thought back to what Cloud had told him, _Don't approach her as a political ally, but as a child seeking to befriend another child._. She had her books sprawled out across a table as she carefully and concisely wrote an essay. He was astonished that she wrote without hardly a stop, her normally smooth brow furrowed in concentration. He hesitated momentarily, afraid of retribution should he accidentally cause her to make an errant mark on the parchment. Just as she was beginning another sentence, he finally blurted out, "Hi, Daphne. Neville and I are creating a study group. Would you like to join us?"

She paused with her quill poised on the parchment for a moment before setting her quill down and meeting his eyes. There was little warmth in her eyes and she seemed guarded. "A study group?"

"Yeah!"

"Why would you invite me?"

"Well, I admit part of the goal was to get to know more people our age. I've never really had friends before. But my strengths in homework are in actually casting spells and less so on the theory. I admit, I've been struggling at trying to do homework. However, I've seen you work and you're like a machine! You always get your homework done early. I'd like to do that too."

She regarded him with a calculating expression. "Who else is apart of the group?"

"Well, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ron Weasley, Ernie Macmillan, Hermione Granger, Lisa Turpin, and Padma Patil have all agreed so far. Oh, and then there's me and Neville."

Again, she seemed to consider and carefully dissect his words as if there was some sort of coded message. She nodded then and said, "Sounds like an interesting group. I would like to join, however I will only do so on one contingency."

"Uhh...okay. What is it?"

"I wish for my friend Tracey Davis to join."

"Your friend from Slytherin, right?"

"That's right," Daphne replied with a stiff nod.

"I don't see why not."

She raised an eyebrow at him and if he wasn't mistaken, her lips quirked ever so slightly into a smile. "When is it?"

"We'll meet Tuesdays and Thursdays after class, starting tomorrow."

"I will be there."

He grinned. "Great! See you tomorrow!"

He had turned away and headed off to where Neville was sitting with their homework and missed Daphne saying in a whisper, "Looking forward to it."

The next day, Harry scoped out a place in the library with Neville, dumping their books on the table. It didn't take long for others to start arriving. Hermione sat next to Harry and quietly chatted to him about her classes of the day. They both agreed that Defense Against the Dark Arts easily had the most useless teacher.

"It's such a shame, too! That class sounds really important."

"Defense? I'd say so. The older kids have said that the Defense Against the Dark Arts post is cursed. No teacher since the 70s has ever lasted more than a year, so they've said."

"That seems odd. Why would a teaching position be cursed?"

Harry shrugged, but he remembered speculating with Hermione and Ron in the previous timeline that Riddle might have cursed it when Dumbledore rejected him for the position.

"Are we all here?" Lisa Turpin asked. "We should probably get started. The whole point is to work on homework."

"Yeah, but we're not all here yet," Harry replied.

"Who else did you invite?"

Harry was about to reply when the two people in question walked in. The chatter suddenly ceased.

"Sorry for being late," Daphne replied, nodding to everyone. Harry was the only one to wave at them. "This is my friend, Tracey Davis."

"I'm Harry," he greeted. Just as he was about to nudge Neville to introduce himself, Ron interrupted.

"What are _they_ doing here?"

"I invited them," Harry replied tersely.

" _She_ is a Slytherin," Ron replied. "Her friend should be too."

"Daphne is a Gryffindor," Harry snapped back. "If she is a Gryffindor, then that means she has the qualities to be a Gryffindor. The Slytherins may be unpleasant, but I have never had any trouble with Tracey."

"It's wrong to judge an entire house by a few individuals," Hermione said.

"But it's not just a few, it's the whole lot of them."

"Shhh! You'll get us kicked out of the library," Lisa said. While she didn't take sides, she looked uncertain. Ernie, Justin, and Neville looked uncomfortable.

"I invited them both to our study group. We're here to help each other learn," Harry said. "You don't have to be in a specific house to do that. Now let's get started. What is the most difficult for everyone?"

Ron had gone scarlet and stared resentfully at Harry, but he stayed quiet and fished out his books like everyone else. The talk went around and it was decided that Potions was the most pressing of the homework they had, since everyone save Slytherins struggled in that class. Harry was pleased when Hermione held out her hand to Tracey, who looked surprised, but graciously took it and smiled at her.

When the group finally broke for dinner, Harry assured Neville that he'd be there in a little bit, but wanted to look at something. His friend vaguely waved and headed off to dinner. Harry went straight for the dragon section.

He had been putting off the research of this dragon for far too long. They needed to know what kind of dragon Dumbledore had chosen to guard the third floor corridor. He went to Madam Pince and asked for her best book on dragons. Unfortunately, that had been taken out, so she handed him her second best book: _The Great Terrible Lizards of the Wizarding World_. He skimmed the book, hesitating only on the Hungarian Horntail before moving on. He was beginning to think he wouldn't find it in this book, when he almost flipped past it. His eyes widened and roved the page.

 _Esperi Dragon_

 _The rarest class of dragons. Once famous in their time several hundred years ago for being intelligent while lacking the same blood-thirsty nature of its cousins, it is their lack of aggression that may have led to their low numbers as witches and wizards took advantage of their gentle nature and hunted them to near extinction. As with most magical creatures, their feathers, their horns, and organs all have magical properties used in potions. Only a handful of colonies remain, one in eastern Europe, North America, and in the Taiga forest of Russia, though their exact locations are unknown._

 _The International Wizarding Confederacy has made it their goal to protect the remaining dragons by making their location unplottable and creating a net of spells that confound muggle and wizard alike who get too close._

 _This dragon is, in comparison to its cousins, small and their wings are feathered instead of leathery. It is said that they can sense good and evil and will only become aggressive in the presence of evil or upon being attacked. These dragons also sing like the non-magical Humpback Whale to communicate with those of its kind to find mates, dispute territory, and hunt._

 _The length of their lifespan is unknown as no one has been able to study these great creatures at length, but is speculated to be several hundred years like their cousins._

Harry felt his mood dip at the thought of that wonderful creature being hunted to near extinction. He knew that most species of dragons were stuck in sanctuaries because of over hunting and humans encroaching on their territories.

 _It can sense good and evil?_ He realized that the section didn't state that outright, but after his encounter, he'd be willing to bet a Firebolt on it. He could sense the gentleness and warmth emanating from the creature and couldn't understand how anyone could possibly take advantage of it for its organs. He now realized in this world that Dumbledore's warning of "suffering a painful death" was actually a jape. The only ones who had to worry were the evil, and with a presence like Voldemort on Quirrell's head, he doubted he would be able to pass it uninjured.

Quirrell and Voldemort would have to kill it. He and Cloud needed to stop them before they did.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note:** Wow, this story has exploded! Thanks, everyone, for your support by favoriting and adding this to your alerts and especially reviewing. It really does help! Once again, I apologize for the tardiness of this chapter, but this one was difficult to write because I wanted to make sure that it went down in a way that was believable and in-character.

 **Chapter 19**

For the first time since arriving at Hogwarts, Harry felt content. In the beginning, he had been so stressed out about maintaining his friendship with Ron and Hermione, on top of trying to remember the finer points of theories, and also fretting over Quirrell and Lord Voldemort, that he'd always gone to bed with his stomach tied in knots.

However, since creating the study group, he had effectively killed one bird with two stones. He no longer had to stress so much about not quite remembering things, by having it explained effectively by other people, mostly Hermione. However, Daphne and her friend Tracey were a wealth of information regarding potions and also on the finer points of staying on Snape's good side. While Snape still bothered them, his and Neville's homework was excellent and Neville was getting increasingly better with being careful following the instructions. Ron had even started defrosting after his initial protestation against Daphne and Tracey and had actively thanked the group for helping him with his homework as well.

He and Cloud had yet to devise a way to expose Quirrel and Voldemort for what they were, but everything else had been squared away. It was only the end of October. Fall had swept in a few weeks ago with some strong winds, but beautiful leaf colors and of course the smell of baking pumpkin pies wafting through the castle. Cloud was at least convinced that they needn't worry about Quirrell jumping the wand, because Voldemort was still too afraid to try anything with Dumbledore around. The other one at least.

Even so, Harry continued his Saturday meetings with Cloud, where he was re-learning his regular arsenal of spells, brainstorming plans with Cloud, and also hearing Cloud's reports about the castle. They had gotten a mite less frequent after Cloud's run in with Professor McGonagall as he hung around Harry, sticking closer like a companion would. Harry didn't mind this, as occasionally Cloud did help him with his homework, but he had a tendency to sleep in Harry's book bag, thoroughly covering his books with white hairs.

After one successful meeting on Saturday, Harry left the room in high spirits. So much so that he almost felt like whistling, but just as he was about to turn the corner, the song died on his lips, and the color drained from his face.

"Why hello, Harry."

"Nice little place you got up here."

"Per chance you could show it to us."

"We have sources - very reliable ones, mind -"

" - that show _you_ disappearing into nothing."

"What's even more interesting is that you always seem to disappear with Dumbledore."

"Now, we never took you for a teacher's pet - "

" - in spite of your good grades-"

" -we can't help but wonder just what are you doing with our dear old headmaster."

Harry stared up into the freckled faces of the twins with undisguised fear. They weren't playing either. While they did have smug smiles on their faces, these ones didn't quite reach their eyes. They meant business. His heart pounded in his chest and he had to work to keep his legs from trembling.

 _I can't believe I forgot about the map!_ He and Cloud had even discussed this earlier in the year, but felt it highly unlikely that the twins would see anything suspicious. He knew the twins were cleverer than they let on, but he had hoped to slip under their radar. That was apparently dashed.

They waited patiently for his answer. Every excuse he thought of, he immediately discarded. As clever as they were, they know every excuse was a lie in a heartbeat.

He jumped when he heard a loud "Mrow!" and Cloud clawed at his jeans and then pointedly gazed back in the direction of the Room of Requirement.

"We have...ways to keep you from leaving."

Abruptly, Harry nodded at them without saying a word, then he gestured with his hand to follow. Once more, he paced in front of the Room of Requirement and felt no small amount of satisfaction at their gasps when the door materialized.

They quickly filed into to their normal location of a replica of the Gryffindor common room without the fire place. The only difference was when a coffee table rose up from the ground between two couches. Harry and Cloud sat on the other side the Twins sat on the other side. They were still looking around when they said at the same time, "What is this place?"

"It's the Room of Requirement," Harry replied in a stiff manner. "Pace in front thinking hard about what you're looking for and the door will appear in that hallway."

They were obviously impressed and shot each other a look that Harry could actually read: _This isn't on the map._

 _Speaking of maps,_ Harry thought, he felt his mouth quirk as he looked at them. "I will tell you what I've been doing, but we're not going to have any secrets between each other. Now give me the map."

Their eyes were bulging out of their head at what he said and once again, they glanced at each other. But Harry held out his hand and waited. Finally, they relented and George pulled out the ragged parchment of the Maurader's Map.

Harry wasted no time in opening it, placed his wand up on it, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The ink spider webbed across the map, filling it up with ink blots and rooms.

George just said, "How?!"

"In a minute," Harry said, leafing through the pages of the map, staring at each dot closely. He finally found what he was looking for. He could have sworn that his hair stood up on the back of his neck and he felt faint. Cloud had jumped onto the map and was staring at the two dots pacing the room: Quirinius Quirrell and Tom Riddle. Harry let out a shaky breath, before he straightened up and waved the twins over to see what he was looking at.

"You see that? Tom Riddle is Lord Voldemort, and he's on the back of our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's head."

"What?!"

They could see the two dots pacing together with an odd synchronicity. Fred narrowed his eyes at him and said, "Are you having a go at us?"

"How do you know this?"

"Because it all starts with Voldemort," Harry replied. "I'm not originally from this time line."

"He's having a go at us," George said, smiling. "Brilliant prank, Harry. You got us. We'll get you next time."

"If it was that easy to do, I wouldn't try so hard," Harry snapped. It was probably a little harsher than he needed to, but he didn't need more people thinking him a loony. "This is real."

The twins sobered up. Fred said, "Fine, if you're not having a go at us - "

"Then prove you're from a new timeline."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Knowing about the map isn't proof enough? Fine. You gave me the map in my third year when I didn't get permission to go to Hogsmeade."

"That sounds like something we'd do," Fred muttered.

Harry hesitated on the next one, but Cloud actually beat him to it, "You start a company called Weasley Wizard Wheezes."

The twins actually screamed. "Fine fine, we believe you," Fred said.

"How does your cat talk?"

"Meet Dumbledore. But he's not the Headmaster. He's from the same time as me. I call him Cloud. You need to as well."

"Your name on the map is Dumbledore."

"We were afraid something like that would happen," Dumbledore said. "Which is why we bothered to bring you in on this secret. But you must not tell _anyone_ what we have told you."

"And get sent to St. Mungos?"

"No thank you."

"Good," Harry said and he heaved a sigh. All of a sudden he felt older than his eleven years. Wasn't he since he lived to be seventeen previously? He was starting to develop a headache from the multitude of questions that pounded his skull. "The reason why Cloud and I are here is because where we came from, Voldemort got his body back in a few years, and then he started a war with the wizarding world. It was devastating. Many of my friends died." His eyes flickered briefly to Fred; he hoped the twin didn't read too much into that.

Judging by the sudden serious change in their expressions, they had an inkling of what he was referring to. "How can we help?" Fred asked.

"Oh, you don't need to - "

"Actually, Harry, I think it might be a good idea to include them. We both know how resourceful Fred and George are. Now that we've let them in on the secret, there is no reason not to contribute," Cloud said. He then turned to Fred and George, "Voldemort is currently occupying the back of Professor Quirrell's head. We want to pull the turban off to expose him. It has to look like an accident."

Fred and George raised their eyebrows. "Now, we've never shied away from a good prank - "

" - but pranking a teacher by pulling off a bit of their clothing -"

" - is a bit far."

"That's why it has to look like an accident," Cloud said. "There would be far too many uncomfortable questions otherwise."

"Point."

"It needs to be public, too. The bigger the crowd, the better," Harry said.

"A feast would be a good place," George said.

"Any chance of having a plan by Halloween?" Harry asked. The chance of what happened to Hermione happening again were slim now that she was already apart of his study group. Despite her bossy nature, which admittedly could be unbearable at times, she was well-liked for her extensive knowledge on just about everything.

"That's barely a week away," Fred said, with a frown.

"I know, but he's going to come running in screaming about a monster and collapse in the middle of the hallway. It'd be perfect."

"That could work. We'll think on it."

"Thank you," Harry said.

From then on the twins tried to pry from Harry more details about the future, but he refused. Eventually, they agreed to come here every Saturday to learn new spells too, then they left rather uncharacteristically quiet and serious.

"Did we do the right thing, Cloud?" Harry whispered to him once the door closed.

"I wish we could have kept this a secret a little longer, but...honestly Harry, you were going to need the help eventually. This is not a task for one man, let alone a child."

"I hope you're right," he said, before getting up and heading towards the door.


End file.
